Medical student arrested for allegedly stealing iPad from dying woman
By Sam Hoff
Sept. 12, 2014 12:47 a.m.
A UCLA medical student who allegedly stole an iPad from a dying woman in the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center will appear in court Friday morning.
University police arrested Virginia Nguyen, a 32-year-old medical student and research fellow who worked at the hospital, in late March after finding her with the device.
Family members of Natalie Packer, who died of breast cancer earlier this year at age 30, said they discovered that her iPad went missing from her hospital room after she died. Several days later, they found the device still inside the hospital by using the “Find my iPad” app.
The app also showed that the device was re-registered as “Virginia’s iPad,” Sam Heller, Packer’s uncle, told NBC4.
In a statement Thursday, UCLA said Nguyen is no longer employed at the medical center.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Nguyen in late July with petty theft, grand theft and unlawfully controlling and deleting data. She pleaded not guilty at her arraignment and will appear at the Los Angeles Superior Court Airport Courthouse Friday for an early disposition hearing.
Compiled by Sam Hoff, Bruin senior staff.
