Metro

B’klyn EMT cuffed for allegedly stealing from patients

He was supposed to help others but he allegedly helped himself instead.

A 35-year-old EMT was arrested today on theft charges after stealing money from an undercover investigator who the greedy ambulance worker believed was an injured patient, authorities said.

Donald Vasquez, 35, of Brooklyn failed his integrity test miserably by stealing $280 in cash from someone he was transporting to Brookdale Hospital, authorities said.

“Stealing money from an individual in a vulnerable situation is a fundamental breach of an EMT’s duty,” said DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn.

The ambulance worker was told to go back inside a patient’s apartment to retrieve identification. Video surveillance shows him helping himself to cash in a wallet inside the bedroom and later taking more cash from an envelope, authorities said.

Investigators set up the sting after someone made a theft complaint against Vasquez, who has worked for the FDNY’s EMS bureau since July 2004, authorities said. Details of that complaint weren’t immediately clear.

Vasquez, who earns a base salary of $48,153 a year, has been suspended for 30 days and faces disciplinary charges. He is charged with two counts each of official misconduct, petit larceny and possession of stolen property. Each count carries a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail.