By Shereen Siewert
Police in Portage are seeking a man suspected in a string of thefts at medical facilities in Wausau and other central Wisconsin communities.
According to the Portage Daily Register, staff at Divine Savior Hospital reported seeing a man acting suspiciously and walking in an area designated solely for employees. When hospital staff confronted the man, he said he was lost, police said, but minutes later an employee discovered her purse was missing.
The man was last seen leaving the area in a white Kia sedan vehicle. The purse was later recovered at a rest stop along I-39.
A statewide crime alert was issued Thursday that indicated multiple similar thefts by a man at medical facilities in Eau Claire, Baldwin, Menomonie, Osseo, Wausau and Red Wing, Minnesota.
Police are urging citizens to be on the lookout for the suspect, who appears to be traveling the Interstate system to target health care facilities in communities near those roadways.
He was last known to be in the Portage area around 10 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22.
