New York City nurse, 43, steals coronavirus patient’s credit card as he was on a ventilator and uses it to buy $60-worth of groceries and gas three days before he died
- New York nurse Danielle Conti, 43, was arrested Thursday for stealing a dying coronavirus patient’s credit card in April, cops say
- She stole the credit card of 70-year-old Anthony Catapano who passed away on April 12 from COVID-19 at Staten Island University Hospital North
- On April 9 she rang up $60.23-worth of charges on the card at a gas station and at a ShopRite store, the very same day Catapano was moved to ventilator unit
- Catapano’s daughter noticed the charges and reported it to police
- Conti, who worked at the hospital since 2007, has been suspended
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A New York nurse has been arrested for stealing a dying coronavirus patient’s credit card to buy $60-worth of groceries and gas, police say.
Nurse Danielle Conti, 43, stole the credit card of Anthony Catapano, 70, and used it three days before he died of COVID-19 on April 12 at Staten Island University Hospital North in New York.
Conti, of Old Bridge, New Jersey, was arrested Thursday and charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny according to police.
She allegedly swiped Catapano’s American Express card as he was fighting for his life during one of her hospital rounds between April 4 and 12.
On April 9 she rang up $60.23-worth of charges on the card at a gas station and at a ShopRite store.
New York nurse Danielle Conti, 43, (above) was arrested Thursday for stealing the credit card of ailing coronavirus patient Anthony Catapano, 70, and using it on April 9, three days before he died, police say
She swiped Anthony Catapano’s (above) American Express card as he was fighting for his life in the hospital’s ventilator unit during one of her hospital rounds between April 4 and 12. On April 9 she rang up $60.23-worth of charges on the card at a gas station and at a ShopRite store, the same day he was transferred to the ventilator unit of the hospital
Conti has been suspended and faces possible termination from Staten Island University Hospital North (above)
Catapano’s 37-year-old daughter Tara Catapano discovered the charges she reported it to Staten Island police on April 28.
‘I can’t believe a person could do something like that to someone fighting for his life,’ Tara Catapano said to the New York Daily News. ‘This is a nurse who took an oath to treat, protect and save patients. It’s disgusting … Never in a million years did I expect any of this to happen.’
‘She is a despicable human being. How would she feel if somebody did this to her parents when they were gravely ill? I hope she gets what she deserves, and loses her license and her job,’ she added.
She said the charges were rung up on the same day her father was moved into the ventilator unit as his condition worsened.
‘A total of $60.23. That’s what she risked her job for. She took total advantage of my father’s condition. I’m sure she assumed he wasn’t going to make it, and his family wouldn’t notice,’ Tara said.
Conti has worked at Staten Island University Hospital North since 2007. Pictured above in old social media photos
Catapano’s 37-year-old daughter Tara discovered the charges she reported it to Staten Island police on April 28 (Tara and father Anthony above). ‘I can’t believe a person could do something like that to someone fighting for his life,’ Tara said
Conti, who has worked at the hospital since 2007, has been suspended and faces possible termination. It’s unclear if she’ll be paid during her suspension.
‘Danielle Conti has been temporarily suspended and faces termination in response to the felony charges. We are working closely with the law-enforcement authorities and the hospital is conducting its own investigation,’ a hospital spokesman said.
She had no prior arrests.
‘Who knows how much has already been going on? It’s just a waiting game to see those people brought to justice,’ one police source said to the New York Post.
‘There’s bad apples in every industry. It’s just that these are the people you think are going to take care of you. Meanwhile, they’re committing grand larcenies against you,’ another police source added.