PITTSBURGH — A Michigan man has been jailed on charges that he stayed at a posh southwestern Pennsylvania resort and ran up a $16,000 tab by pretending to be a heart surgeon and golf pro in town to interview for a job at a nearby hospital.
Jeffrey Paul Cochran, 41, of Scottville, Mich., was in Fayette County’s jail after he failed to post a $150,000 bond at his arraignment Wednesday on charges of theft of services and theft by deception.
Cochran was arrested at his mother’s graveside funeral service on Nov. 12 in Jamestown, Mich., police told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, which first reported his arrest. Cochran was then brought to Pennsylvania to face charges.
Cochran allegedly stayed for free from May 15 to May 28 at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Cochran called the resort and identified himself as a Uniontown Hospital physician who was arranging accommodations for an out-of-town doctor.
Cochran then pretended to be the out-of-town doctor and checked into the resort under his own name. He was given a $500-a-night room and left through the hotel’s back door when hotel officials tried to call about paying the bill, police said.