First reported 7/29/2010 4:18 p.m.

An emergency room worker was charged this month with stealing wedding rings off a dead woman's body at a hospital in Downers Grove, police in that town said.

But it's not the first time Frederick Tapley of Bolingbrook, 36, has been charged with stealing from a hospital.

In 2001, he was charged with stealing credit cards from two different patients at West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, where he then worked.

He was charged with two counts of misdemeanor theft, according to Oak Park police Commander LaDon Reynolds. Tapley allegedly turned himself in in 2001.

In Downers Grove this month, the rings were recovered from a jewelry store in south suburban Lansing, where diamonds had been separated from the gold band, according to Downers Grove police. The store had been ready to melt down the rings' gold.

CONTACT: bmeyerson@wjinc.com