OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged a Lincoln dentist with stealing nearly $17,000 worth of precious metals from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Omaha.

Prosecutors say Randall Toothaker had been working in the hospital’s dental prosthetics office before the alleged theft last summer.

A lab technician reported seeing the 57-year-old dentist open a locked cabinet where precious metals used in dental procedures, including gold, were kept.

While VA officials investigated the missing metals, prosecutors say Toothaker tried to leave the property. Officers pulled him over and found the missing metals in a bag in his vehicle.

Toothaker told officers he didn’t know how the metals got into his bag.

Toothaker’s initial appearance in federal court is scheduled for July 18. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a message Wednesday.