LOS ANGELES — Authorities say a man masqueraded as a female to get into three local hospitals, charging more than $100,000 in medical bills to a woman’s medical card.
“He had enough personal information, including the victim’s address, to obtain some type of health care card under the victim’s name,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Jim Amormino of 51-year-old Perla Serrano.
Police said Serrano was arrested initially because he was found sleeping overnight along a roadside in San Clemente. Investigators described him as a transient, and believed he was a woman.
“He wore clothes that females would wear, such as a female-type sweatshirt with a hood, or female-type shirt or blouse, not necessarily a dress,” Amormino said.
He was also wearing an identification bracelet from a San Clemente hospital, one of three in South Orange County where he is accused of racking up $100,000 in medical bills, police said.
Serrano is facing six charges of identity theft, burglary and impersonation. The victim is said to resemble Serrano.
“This has been a nightmare for the victim,” Amormino said, adding “as one could imagine.”
