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Nevada Man Accused of Stealing Hundreds of Surgical Masks From Veterans’ Hospital

Peter Lucas, 35, of Reno is accused of stealing around 200 masks from the Ioannis A. Lougaris VA Medical Center last month.

A 35-year-old Nevada man is facing one year in prison and a $100,000 fine after he was accused of stealing four boxes of surgical masks–around 200 masks—from the Ioannis A. Lougaris Veterans Administration Medical Center last month. Peter Lucas, who reportedly worked at the center in some capacity, was charged in a Reno court on Wednesday with one count of theft of health care property. Nicholas A. Trutanich, the U.S. attorney for Nevada, said the veterans being treated at the facility served on the front lines in the same way the health care workers are now doing in the COVID-19 pandemic. “We will not allow the theft of personal protective equipment to go undeterred, endangering the safety of doctors, nurses and other health professionals protecting our communities,” Trutanich said in a statement.