Man accused of breaking into Excela Health employee lockers, cars

Security at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg used hidden cameras to identify a janitor accused in a series of thefts in a locker room area and a parking lot, according to city police.

David M. Frank, 32, of Latrobe was charged with counts of theft in connection with the incidents, which usually occurred during night shifts at the Greensburg facility. Frank was an employee for a contracted janitorial service at the hospital, Rolling Hills Industries in Latrobe.

City Patrolman John Carnes said hospital security notified him in April that, as a result of several thefts in a locker room and cars, “they placed a hidden camera and had observed a contracted employee going through the lockers.”

Carnes said video surveillance also captured Frank exiting the hospital during some evening shifts with a flashlight after an employee arrives, entering the employee’s vehicle and rummaging through items inside.

“(Frank) then walks back towards the hospital,” Carnes wrote in court documents.

Employees said they usually were missing food, small amounts of currency and cigarettes they kept in backpacks, wallets or purses inside the lockers, police said. Sometimes, police allege, Frank would take remote keys from the locker to enter the vehicles.

One victim told police “over the course of time (since March) she had over $150 stolen.”

According to Carnes, one of the video clips provided to police showed Frank removing candy bars, which he ate, from an employee’s locker, and then “throwing the wrappers on top of the lockers.”

Carnes said when security officers confronted Frank on April 18 with videos of him going through lockers, he told investigators he was just looking for an empty locker that he could use and “he denied taking anything.”

Frank could not be reached for comment, and an attorney was not listed in online court dockets.

Officials at Rolling Hills Industries did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Frank was served with the complaints via mailed summons. A preliminary hearing is Aug. 8 before District Judge Chris Flanigan.