WALKER, Mich. (WOOD) – A former employee of Corewell Health is accused of handling hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of bones and selling them.
According to court documents, Stephen Jacobsen of Allendale confessed to racketeering and dealing in graft and other medical supplies.
The records do not say who bought the stolen grafts.
Jacobsen is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from Corewell’s warehouse in Walker, where he worked. He surrendered Tuesday to be arraigned in 59th District Court in Walker.
Stephen Jacobsen appears in Walker’s court on November 26, 2024.
A police report obtained by Target 8 shows Corewell’s security arrested him in an incident on Oct. 24 after fixing the surveillance cameras in the warehouse.
“Stephen is on video carrying an empty casket and entering aisle #30 where small caskets of bones are kept,” the report says. “Stephen can be seen looking around, then removing boxes of bone grafts from the storage shelves and placing them in a large box.”
The video then shows him taking some of the grafts from another alley before putting them in his pickup parked outside, police said.
Before they could face security, Jacobsen did it again in early November, stealing another 10 bones, according to police.
He is accused of taking $693,000 for bone grafts and other medical procedures alone. He later admitted that it had been going on for six out of seven years, according to police.
According to his LinkedIn page, he was a sales performance analyst at Corewell and had worked in healthcare for 15 years.
Corewell Health officials declined to comment.
Jacobsen declined to comment after the hearing.
His attorney, Clint Westbrook, told the judge that Jacobsen was a lifelong Michigan resident with no criminal history. He said he already has a new job.
Jacobsen is free on $25,000 cash bond. He is expected back in court in December to hear if there is enough evidence for a trial. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
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