Assumed name may result in fraud charges

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A woman seeking medical attention under an assumed name received more than she wanted Monday evening at the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston.

And the person whose name she was using -- Callie Robinson of Charleston, Mo. -- learned it doesn't pay to be impatient, the Sikeston police reported.

Workers in the hospital's emergency room called police when the woman created a disturbance. When officers questioned her, she gave them Robinson's name. Officers, as part of routine investigation, found that Robinson was wanted on warrants from Charleston, Mo., and Miner, Mo., Capt. Mark Crocker said.

To avoid arrest, he said, the woman gave her real name. She told officers she was using Robinson's name to get Medicaid to pay for her treatment, Crocker said.

"She was raising hell with the staff," Crocker said. "I don't know what precipitated it, but she was loud and obnoxious with the staff and they got fed up with it."

Officers arrested the woman and called a state fraud investigator, Crocker said. Sikeston police won't release the woman's name until charges are filed, Crocker said.

The woman was being treated for her complaint when Robinson entered the hospital asking about her, Crocker said. Robinson also used a fake name at first -- that of the woman who needed treatment -- but gave her real name when questioned by officers.

The Scott County prosecutor's office is reviewing the case and considering whether to file Medicaid fraud charges against the two women, Crocker said.

Robinson was held on the warrants from Miner and Charleston. The Miner warrant was for failure to appear in court and the Charleston warrant was for assault, officers from those cities said.

If the woman who wanted medical help had remained quiet, Crocker said, both women would have escaped notice. "It pays not to be stupid," he said. "A lot of these people think that the louder and bolder they are, the more they get away with."