'Despicable human being’: NYC nurse arrested for gassing up car with credit card stolen from dying coronavirus patient — cops
This is how low you can go.
A ghoulish Staten Island nurse swiped a credit card from a dying coronavirus patient in a hospital ventilator unit, using the pilfered plastic to callously purchase groceries and gas as he wasted away, authorities charged Thursday.
Danielle Conti, 43, used the pandemic as her personal piggy bank after allegedly stealing the charge card from 70-year-old widower Anthony Catapano while making her daily rounds at hard-hit Staten Island University Hospital North sometime in early April, authorities charge.
The Staten Island grandfather of a 12-year-old girl died on April 12 from COVID-19 complications.
“I can’t believe a person could do something like that to someone fighting for his life," said Tara Catapano, the dead man’s devastated daughter, as she choked up with emotion. "This is a nurse who took an oath to treat, protect and save patients. It’s disgusting ... Never in a million years did I expect any of this to happen.”
On April 9, when the nursing veteran allegedly rang up charges of $60.23, Staten Island hit its coronavirus peak with nearly 1,200 cases in a single day.
Cops said the card was used at a gas station. The victim’s daughter says another charge was made the same day at a ShopRite store.
“She is a despicable human being,” an outraged Tara Catapano told the Daily News. “How would she feel if somebody did this to her parents when they were gravely ill? I hope she gets what she deserves, and loses her license and her job."
Conti was charged with grand larceny and ordered to appear in Staten Island Criminal Court at a later date. She started working at Staten Island University Hospital in 2007, and a hospital spokesman said she was immediately suspended and faced possible termination over the charges.
“We are working closely with the law enforcement authorities and the hospital is conducting its own investigation,” he added.
Tara Catapano discovered the fraud after her dead father’s credit card bill arrived in the mail — and she realized the charges were rung up on the same day when he was moved into the ventilator unit.
“A total of $60.23,” she said with disgust. “That’s what she risked her job for. She took total advantage of my father’s condition. I’m sure she assumed he wasn’t going to make it, and his family wouldn’t notice.”
Tara Catapano said the credit card bill raised an immediate red flag because of the gas charges, since her father always paid with cash when filling his car. She went to police on April 28 about the theft.
“It’s been absolutely horrible,” said Tara, whose brother died just seven months ago. “It’s bad enough I lost my father to this horrible, horrible disease. It’s been a nightmare.”
At Conti’s New Jersey address, a woman said the nurse wasn’t home before closing the door on a reporter. A man exiting a pickup truck at the residence then declined to address the macabre allegations.
“Yeah, I’m not going to tell you anything about that,” the man said. “I’m not going to contribute to your report. I understand you have a job to do but I would appreciate it if you didn’t come back here.”
But neighbors confirmed the two were Conti and her husband, the parents of a 5-year-old boy. The couple moved into the suburban home about eight years ago, according to one neighbor.
“That’s crazy,” the neighbor said. “That’s hard to believe. They’re very nice people. I’m very surprised.”
A second neighbor said she usually saw Conti when they were both walking their kids to school in the morning, and echoed the description of the family as “nice people.”
Tara Catapano said the arrest brought her “a sense of relief” even as she struggled with her father’s death and the theft.
“I don’t know that you’d say it was a happy ending,” she said. “I’m glad something was done, glad there’s going to be some justice, and she’s going to pay for it.”
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