Fairfax County Police Department News

A Gaithersburg man is facing a number of felony charges after an investigation revealed he stole medical kits from at least two hospitals and sold them online. Burke Slater, 52, has been charged with five counts of grand larceny, five counts of possessing stolen property with intent to sell, and one count of money laundering. Detectives say he is not a hospital employee, but had access to operating rooms as an employee of a medical supply vendor.

The case was brought to our attention late last month when a medical supplier in Florida found some medical kits on eBay and ran the serial numbers. The serial numbers indicated those kits were registered to INOVA Mount Vernon Hospital in the Alexandria area of the Fairfax County. Upon learning that, the medical supplier reached out to the hospital’s supply chain and was informed the items had been stolen.

The investigation found that, in all, seven medical kits valued at around $33,000 a piece, were stolen from at least two hospitals. Of those, five were from Mount Vernon Hospital and two from a hospital in Maryland. Detectives have been able to trace and recover six of them from all over the United States. The kits sold online were resold to other customers around the country. Detectives do not believe any of the customers who bought the items on eBay had any knowledge they were stolen. The customers cooperated fully with the investigation and provided receipts, order confirmations and tracking numbers to help detectives recover the stolen items. Two kits have been physically returned, and four are in the process of being shipped back to the area. The medical kits had made their way to Florida, Washington State, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Slater turned himself in this morning and has since been released on bond.

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