SAN ANTONIO – A CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital-Westover Hills employee is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of hospital equipment from his own place of work.
An arrest affidavit showed that 30-year-old Ely Emanuel Castillo said he did it because it was easy.
He posted a $30,000 bond early Friday morning.
The affidavit said hospital security noticed Castillo always seemed to be working during the time the medical instruments disappeared from his department.
Over six months, $400,000 worth of hospital equipment went out the door of the far West Side hospital.
With evidence in hand, a detective interviewed Castillo on Monday. The man with no criminal history of theft reportedly told police he did it because it was easy and no one asked any questions.
The detective said he received seven DVDs of footage from cameras inside the hospital showing Castillo taking the missing items. The director of security also provided a list of the instruments and how much they're worth. It was 40 pages long.
Police said the part-time employee of the surgery and sterile processing department admitted to taking everything and selling it all online.
Castillo said he sold the equipment to one person in separate transactions, $600-$800 at a time. The numbers suggest he made at least $12,000 before he was charged with a first-degree felony.
A spokesman for the hospital said he could not confirm if Castillo is still an employee.
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