Local News in Brief : Costa Mesa : License Number of Van With Needles Released
In the continuing effort to find a stolen medical van containing used needles that may be infected with the AIDS virus, police released the license plate number of the missing white vehicle.
Detective Russell Rose said he issued a bulletin Friday morning to other police agencies, alerting them to look for the unmarked 1987 Dodge Ram Mini Van bearing California license plates 3P57415.
The van was stolen sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Thursday from the 3000 block of Coolidge Avenue, where it was parked in front of the apartment building of the van’s driver.
The van belongs to HealthDyne Home Infusion Therapy Inc., an Irvine-based company that provides in-home health care for patients, including some who are infected with the HIV, or AIDS, virus.
County health officials said the needles do not pose a danger to the general public unless someone were to break into their sealed containers, which bear warning labels, and use them.
A spokesman for HealthDyne said the needles, which are in eight disposal containers marked with a warning that they contain bio-hazardous waste, should pose minimal health risk. The containers were described as red, square and with a capacity of 1 to 2 quarts.
Anyone who finds the containers is asked to contact county health officials at (714) 834-8356 or their local fire department.
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