Police: Man with hatchet dressed up in hospital clothes to steal patient information

A man accused of impersonating a medical worker is in the King County Jail tonight charged with sneaking into Seattle's Virginia Mason hospital and trying to steal patient records.

Investigators say 46 year old Dominick Michael Allen was discovered inside the hospital early last Friday Morning.

Charging documents say he caught was riffling through patient records.

He was found wearing scrubs and had a doctor's ID badge in his pocket.

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Investigators accuse him of targeting file cabinets, to get patients billing and identifying information, with the purpose of committing identity theft and other related fraud.

Maryann and Jon Counts are patients at Virginia Mason.

“As for somebody having access to our records, that is not something we would like to share with the rest of the world, personal files,” Maryann Counts said.

“That's crazy. They should check the inventory of the gowns and so forth,” said Jon Counts

No one was hurt, but Allen fought back when security guards tried to stop him.

Court documents say they found a 4-inch knife and a rusty hatchet on him.

Records show Allen has been convicted of eight prior felonies, so tonight he's been held on $50,000 bail.

A spokesman for Virginia Mason says the hospital is taking additional security measures.

Allen struggled, stated other people were inside "armed with guns," and threatened other security officers.

Officers found patient cards and records in Allen's possession, in addition to his hatchet and a knife.

Prosecutors said Allen has eight prior convictions including burglary- and forgery-related charges.

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