EAU CLAIRE — An Eau Claire man is accused of stealing a nursing home van parked outside Sacred Heart Hospital and driving it to a strip club in Trego.
Christopher P. Wilbanks, 34, of 716 First Ave. was charged Thursday in Eau Claire County Court with a felony count of operating a motor vehicle without the owner's consent.
Wilbanks is free on a $2,000 signature bond, which prohibits him from drinking alcohol, entering taverns or having contact with Dove Healthcare or Sacred Heart Hospital.
Wilbanks returns to court April 9.
According to the criminal complaint:
An employee of Dove Healthcare said he arrived at the hospital Jan. 30 to transport a resident. The employee said he parked the van at the main entrance to the emergency room and left the vehicle running because of frigid temperatures.
When the employee came out a few minutes later, the van was gone.
Hospital surveillance video showed a man entering and driving away with the van.
The Wisconsin State Patrol later found the Dove Healthcare van at a strip club in Trego.
A woman told troopers Wilbanks picked her up earlier that day with the van and drove her to the strip club.
Wilbanks was with the woman, and troopers found the keys to the van in his pocket. Wilbanks told authorities several days later he had no recollection of the day the van was taken because he was extremely intoxicated.
Wilbanks is being prosecuted as a repeat offender. He was convicted of a felony count of bail jumping in September in Eau Claire County.
If convicted, Wilbanks could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.
Comments
last commentWhen you gotta go and get your groping fix; you gotta go :)
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This story would have been so much better if the van had been full of residents at the time, lol
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How is this wrong?
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^ Exactly – no where does it say he wasn’t planning to return the van :)
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