A woman from York County reports that her husband’s pocket was picked as he got off the elevator at a hospital up in the Piedmont section of South Carolina. These days, that’s not a common crime, but it appears that we need to be on guard, based on recent reports.

In the York case, Harry and Sara were getting off the elevator at the hospital when another passenger dropped his cell phone. Sara stepped off the elevator, but Harry, gentleman that he is, bent over to pick up the cell phone and handed it back to the stranger.

Harry remembers being bumped as he bent down, but thought nothing of it. The stranger thanked Harry, then walked away, apparently alone.

Sara remembers seeing Harry’s pocket comb on the floor outside the elevator. Harry picked it up and put the comb back in his pocket. It was then that Harry realized his wallet was missing! The couple reported the loss at the hospital security desk.

Later, police screened hospital surveillance tapes and saw two men enter and leave the hospital together. The time frame fit Harry’s incident at the elevator. The cops would like to talk to those two guys seen in the video!

Back at home, Harry keeps a scanned copy of all his credit cards and called each of the companies. Because of that early report, Harry and Sara will not be responsible for any unauthorized charges.

You guessed it, there were unauthorized charges, lots of them — $15,000 worth — within a short time after Harry’s wallet was stolen. You can see that prompt reporting matters.

This incident was no fluke. Since the York County incident there’ve been pickpocket reports at hospitals in Charlotte, Newberry, Lexington, and Columbia. In each case, it appears the same two guys are working together — one to drop something as a diversion, and the other to bump and pick the victim’s pocket. The scam wouldn’t work on somebody who wasn’t a gentleman.