A ghoulish New York City Medical Examiner worker stole an $800 Louis Vuitton bag from a dead man he was transporting to the morgue, city investigators and prosecutors said Tuesday.
Trevor Rheams, 49, is facing up to a year in jail after allegedly swiping the bag from the dead man’s Manhattan home just before he zipped him up in a body bag.
Rheams was called to the First Ave. apartment near E. 40th St. in Midtown on Aug. 9 after the tenant had died, cops said.
A responding NYPD officer’s body-worn camera recorded the bag in the kitchen before Rheams arrived.
Rheams was alone in the apartment for a brief time as he prepared the body for transport, investigators said.
The next day, a fellow Medical Examiner worker found the Luis Vuitton bag inside a pillowcase on the passenger side floor of their work van. The bag still had a tag with the dead man’s name on it, investigators said.
City investigators took Rheams into custody on Oct. 26, charging him with petty larceny and official misconduct, both misdemeanors.
He pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was given a desk appearance ticket to return to Manhattan Criminal Court on Jan. 10, authorities said.
“OCME employees are trusted to handle difficult and sensitive work and their professionalism and integrity are of utmost importance,” Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said Tuesday. “This city employee betrayed that trust when he used his access to a decedent’s home and personal belongings to steal a luxury bag.”
Rheams, a Queens resident, began his job at the Medical Examiner’s office in 2007 and currently earns about $49,000 a year.
When the stolen bag was found in his van, he was pulled from transport duty and was put on modified assignment, city investigators said.
