Theft of Alloy Tools Called Threat to Thief

In order to save the thief’s life, police and hospital officials want to find out who stole a set of potentially dangerous beryllium alloy tools from the Hospital of the Good Samaritan.

“We don’t want anyone to die because they took tools from our hospital,” spokeswoman Ellen Brenner said. The theft of the 28 specially crafted, non-magnetic hammers, wrenches, pliers and other tools was discovered about 5 a.m. Friday.

“If you just touch them, they’re not going to kill you,” Brenner said. “But if you work on your car and it splinters and a piece flies into your mouth, eye or an open sore, it could kill you.”

She also warned that handling the brittle, brass-colored tools without gloves might increase a person’s risk of getting skin cancer.

Trained technicians wear gloves when they use the tools to maintain the Los Angeles hospital’s magnetic resonance imager. The $2-million MRI uses magnetic waves to give doctors state-of-the-art pictures of the inside of a patient’s body. Magnetic tools can’t be used on the machine without risking damage to the equipment and to technicians.

The tools, valued at $8,000, were taken from a cabinet protected by two locked doors. There was no sign of forced entry. A nearby VCR was not touched, Brenner said.