Miami Herald; Wednesday, December 15, 1993
Andres Viglucci; Herald Staff Writer

Police said Tuesday that the arrests should allay fears that someone wanted the names to blackmail or expose people who are HIV positive.

The men admitted taking the computers, but insisted they had no idea what was in them, investigators said.

At least one of the computers was sold to an apparently unwitting buyer. One accused thief, Edgardo Chacon-Diaz, was using a second machine as his home computer, police said.

When police recovered the two computers, their hard-drive memories, which contained the names, had been completely erased.

"We believe it was a crime of opportunity," said Florida Department of Law Enforcement special agent Ed Royal. "Both of them, after being confronted, said yes, they took the computers, but said they didn't realize the information in them was significant."

Royal said investigators have linked the pair to at least two other recent thefts of computers at the hospital, and that others may be involved as well. The investigation is continuing.

"It didn't take a rocket scientist to identify individuals who had access at certain times to the offices," Royal said. "It's not one of the most creative schemes we've seen."

Investigators said they believe the confidentiality of the computerized records, which listed at least 7,000 people who receive services through the hospital's South Florida AIDS Network, remains secure. To be sure, FDLE has assigned a specialist in computer crimes, Archie Hart, to the case.

"We want as much as everyone else to recover that third computer, just so the public and the people whose records are in it can rest easier," Royal said.

The thefts took place during a weekend a month ago. There were no signs of forced entry into the AIDS Network building on the Jackson campus, nor into the double-locked offices where the computers were, leading police to believe it had been an inside job.

Royal said investigators questioned hospital workers with access to keys who were on duty that weekend. FDLE agents and Metro-Dade police detective Carl Mosher made the arrests after working around the clock from Monday till Tuesday. On Monday evening, they arrested Chacon-Diaz, 41, at his West Dade home. Late Tuesday, they arrested Robert Gonzalez, 29, at his South Dade home. Both have been charged with grand theft.

Both Chacon-Diaz and Gonzalez, who called themselves "best friends," worked the same overnight shift at Jackson and had keys to the AIDS Network offices, Royal said.

Jackson employs about 100 unarmed, state-licensed guards to patrol its campus.

According to Jackson personnel records, Chacon-Diaz was hired by the hospital as a custodian in December 1987, then promoted in February 1989 to security officer after passing a training program.

He was commended at least once -- for talking a woman perched on a Jackson rooftop out of jumping long enough for other officers to grab her.

Otherwise, his performance evaluations consistently rated him as an employee who met, but did not exceed, standards.

Because news of his arrest came after business hours Tuesday, Gonzalez's personnel record was unavailable.

The arrests of two of its own guards in the highly publicized thefts could prove troubling to Jackson, which has tried to shore up security after sporadic robberies and other crimes on its campus.

Spokesman Mark Cohen said it was too soon to tell whether the hospital was in any way lax in its supervision of the security guards.

He said Jackson guards must pass state and federal law enforcement checks for criminal records. After a review of Chacon--Diaz's file, Cohen said everything, including security checks, appeared to be in order.

"Until we know all the facts, it's hard to comment," Cohen said. "As far as I can tell, all the i's were dotted and the t's were crossed."

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