Suspects accused of stealing more than $1M in medical equipment from Toronto Western Hospital

Police have released surveillance camera images of three men who allegedly stole endoscopy equipment worth in excess of $1 million from Toronto Western Hospital over the weekend.

Police say the men entered the closed fourth floor surgical area of the hospital at around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, forcing their way inside.

Once inside, police allege that the men took a variety of equipment used for colonoscopies and other similar procedures, including a number of cameras. According to Const. David Hopkinson, each camera is worth about $40,000. The total value of the stolen equipment is believed to be about $1.2 million.

Hopkinson says the theft was not discovered until Monday when staff entered the surgical area and noticed that the equipment was missing.

He added that the theft was “absolutely planned” and was certainly not a crime of convenience.

“They broke into an area that is closed to the public on evenings and weekends and they would have had the run of the place once they got in there,” he said. “This isn’t one clinic. We are talking about a floor of a hospital, so there would have been a number of examination rooms that would have medical equipment worth a fair amount of money.”

Hopkinson did not speculate on whether the equipment is likely headed for the black market but University Health Network Gillian Howard said that it’s highly unlikely that a buyer could be found in Canada.

“Our only guess at this point is that there is a market for equipment like this overseas,” she told CP24. “It would be extremely disheartening to think that anybody in Canada would actually buy stolen equipment. All of this equipment would be ordered from a supplier.

Howard said that the medical equipment supplier that Toronto Western Hospital deals with has “been extremely generous” in working with staff to make sure that the hospitals have the necessary endoscopy equipment to continue providing care to patients.

Nonetheless, she said the theft of the equipment from behind locked doors is “startling.”

The suspect descriptions are as follows:

Police say they are also looking for a silver Honda Odyssey mini-van, which may have a model year from the early 2000s.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at [phone] or Crime Stoppers anonymously at (416) 222-TIPS (8477).