Thief boldly steals medical computer

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - A guy casually walks inside a medical center, looks like a janitor pushing a trash cart. But then when no one's watching, he breaks into an office using a security code and steals a computer filled with sensitive information.

Pensacola Police say on Saturday, December 19, in the late morning, a man walked inside the Cardiology Consultants office in Pensacola.

On surveillance video it appears the office is empty and the coast is clear, and with nobody watching, a man embarks on a mission.

Police said he knew exactly what he was doing.

On the video the man walked inside and about two minutes later he casually walks out with a computer inside the cart, and vanishes.

Mission Accomplished.

But this wasn't an ordinary computer, it was a $27,000 system used to process ultrasound images.

It contained names, birthdays and medical record numbers. But officials say the computer did not have financial information or social security numbers.

"I don't think he was stealing the data, or the high-tech nature of the machine, he just wanted a PC for Christmas," Andrew Radoszewski an administrator at Cardiology Consultants said.

Radoszewski said the computer had a very nice high resolution monitor and that could have been what enticed the suspect to steal it.

"The rest of the computer looked like just a regular PC, so I don't think he realized what was inside of it," he said.

Cardiology Consultants say 8,000 patients were impacted. Each patient was sent a letter, informing them it is unlikely that the information it contains can be accessed by the average computer user.

"You have a security key called a 'dongo key', and he left that behind," Radoszewski said.

He believes the thief has some connection to the office.

"He got the code from somewhere, obviously all our employees have codes, our vendors have codes, and one way or another, he knew how to get in," said Radoszewski.

And even though he escaped with his face exposed, he has not been found. He's a crafty criminal that needs to be caught.

Detectives say the man was in his mid to late 40s and was around 6 feet tall.