Medical Examiner Worker Stole Luxury Bag From Dead NYer: DOI

NEW YORK CITY — A city worker who went into a Manhattan apartment with a body bag walked out with a stolen Louis Vuitton, authorities said.

Trevor Rheams, 49, a driver with the city's Office of Chief Medical Examiner, is accused of stealing a luxury bag while picking up a dead body, according to the Department of Investigation.

Rheams was arraigned Tuesday on two charges — including official misconduct — that could send him to jail for up to a year.

Like other medical examiner's workers, Rheams was entrusted to handle sensitive work with integrity, said Jocelyn Stauber, the city's Department of Investigation commissioner.

"As charged, this City employee betrayed that trust when he used his access to a decedent’s home and personal belongings to steal a luxury bag," Stauber said in a statement.

The accusations stem from Aug. 9, when Rheams was assigned to pick up a dead body from a Manhattan apartment and drive it to the medical examiner's office, authorities said.

One day later, another medical examiner's office worker cleaned out the vehicle assigned to Rheams and spotted a pillowcase on the floor, officials said.

"Inside the pillowcase was a Louis Vuitton bag, with a tag bearing the same last name as the decedent," a DOI release states.

Investigators reviewed an NYPD officer's body camera footage from the apartment and spotted a Louis Vuitton bag in the kitchen, authorities said. They also found that Rheams was alone inside the apartment for a bit, and that the other medical examiner worker didn't see Rheams while sealing the body bag, officials said.

Medical examiner officials placed Rheams on modified duty that day and police arrested him Oct. 26, authorities said.

Rheams previously faced a 60-day suspension after officials found he intimidated an NYU hospital worker who had accidentally walked into his car, according to a report compiled by city investigators. He had used a fake placard to park, investigators found.

Rheams, after his arraignment in the stolen bag case, was released on his own recognizance, authorities said. His next court date is Jan. 10, 2023.