Crime

EL PASO, Texas -- An El Paso hospital warehouse manager was arrested by police after they said he was caught red-handed placing boxes of highly-coveted N-95 surgical masks into the trunk of his car.

57–year-old Eduardo Salas, who works at the Del Sol Medical Center Warehouse on Gateway West, was booked into the downtown jail on theft charges.

Police said in a statement Friday that an officer working extra-duty at the warehouse spotted Salas putting two boxes containing 100 of the N-95 masks into his car.

That officer arrested Salas after he found out he did not have the hospital's permission to take the masks.

As Covid-19 cases soared over the past month, the U.S. was hit with a critical shortage of medical supplies - including the medical-grade N-95 masks.

The snug-fitting N-95 face masks protect medical workers from the coronavirus by filtering out small airborne particles.