A physician has been charged with one count of unlawful surveillance for hiding two "spy pens" in a unisex bathroom in Syracuse, N.Y.-based Crouse Hospital's intensive care unit, according to The Post Standard.
Jeffrey Gould, MD, admitted to police that he hid the two surveillance cameras. His lawyer, Edward Z. Menkin, told The Post Standard that Dr. Gould had hidden the cameras in an attempt to catch the person who had stolen the prescription drug Adderall and a GoPro camera from a bag he had left in a conference room of the ICU in late February.
"This was terrible judgment in an effort to apprehend someone who had stolen his property," Mr. Menkin told The Post Standard. "He didn't think it through."
According to a Syracuse police report, one camera was attached to a toilet paper dispenser and another was taped to the side of a trashcan in the bathroom.
Hospital security contacted police after a custodian discovered the cameras March 1. When detectives first questioned Dr. Gould about the cameras at his apartment March 8, he said he had seen the cameras in the bathroom but had "just neglected to say or do anything about it," according to a report written by Syracuse Police Officer Peter Payne.
Subsequently, a computer forensics detective found a video on one of the cameras showing the inside of an apartment. Officer Payne recognized the apartment as Dr. Gould's.
According to Officer Payne's report, Dr. Gould believed the person who had stolen his Adderall was possibly a co-worker, and Dr. Gould thought he would catch the thief using the prescription drug in the restroom. Dr. Gould apologized to police and told detectives he is not a pervert, according to the report.
No person can be identified in the footage, and neither camera was ever pointed at the toilet.
As a result of the criminal charge, Crouse Hospital fired Dr. Gould. A hospital spokesman told The Post Standard that Dr. Gould was a Syracuse-based Upstate University Hospital resident doing a rotation at Crouse.
Dr. Gould's case is pending in Syracuse City Court. He could face up to four years in prison for the criminal charge against him.
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