A man was arrested by authorities for allegedly stealing a test sample of a patient with suspected coronavirus from Sutter Davis Hospital, California.
According to the Davis Police Department, the suspect identified as Sham Lamar Moore, 40 years old, was arrested on Sunday afternoon shortly after he was spotted by an officer riding his bike across an overpass. Moore has then been detained in Yolo County Jail and is now facing burglary charges.
A day before the suspect was arrested, officials from the hospital reported to the police that a man stole a laboratory specimen which is awaiting testing for coronavirus at around 1:40 in the afternoon. The report also indicated that a man left the scene riding a bike.
At aroung 6:15 pm, on the same day, the sample was recovered in a shopping cart inside a pharmacy on West Covell Boulevard. According to the hospital the COVID-19 test sample has not been tampered with.
Caught on Tape
The suspect was initially identified after police checked surveillance footages from the hospital where Moore's faced showed up. However, the suspect's motivation in doing the crime remains unclear.
In a statement released by the department, they said that the police are already familiar with Moore and are currently investigating if he has any mental health conditions that played a part in this particular incident. They also said that whilst the incident is very serious and posed a serious threat, the detectives have reason to believe that the accused intended t harm others or himself.
Measures in Countering the virus
As of Sunday afternoon, the United States has reported more than 560,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus. They also reported more than 22,000 deaths and 32,000 recoveries. The majority of these cases are are saturated in New York State which has reported 189,400 cases and more than 9,000 deaths.
Meanwhile in California, at least 23,000 people have tested positive for the disease and their death toll has reached 674.
Local health officials and experts have also expressed concern about the limited capabilities of testing and that some people are not exhibiting any symptoms of the virus, which could mean that the real number of cases could be a lot more than the reported number.
As the government tries to combat the virus which has crippled the US and has invaded the world, many people are still overlooking the measures taken by the authorities. People have been constantly advised to follow social distancing protocols and avoid large gatherings in order to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Just a day before Moore's arrest, six people in Bakersfield were hospitalized after a shoot out broke out in a party which happened despite the stay-at-home orders that have been imposed in the state. Police were said to have been called to the scene and were searching for four suspects, however, the altercation did not end well.
Despite the fact that their motivations remain unclear, these people are adding to the burden that the authorities are now facing amidst this crisis.
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