Police: Md. man arrested in DC for paying people to collect their blood without license

WASHINGTON - Police have arrested a man for buying blood from dozens of people in the District.

Khoa Hoang Nguyen, 43, of Rockville, Maryland, has been charged with practicing registered nursing without a license.

According to court documents, D.C. police say Nguyen was storing large quantities of blood in an apartment and he paid people $30 per withdrawal to get it. He also bought blood from at least 40 people in a two-day span earlier this week.

Police say he did it at out of an abandoned apartment on P Street in Southwest D.C., which is part of a public housing project.

When officers arrived to the area to investigate on Wednesday, police say there was a large group of people congregated near the vacant apartment and officers recognized some of them as substance abusers they have encountered in the past.

A witness told officers she was in a "work study" program with the suspect, but police were never able to contact Boston Bio Source, the company Nguyen claimed he worked for, court documents say.

Police say officers found large quantities of blood that was improperly stored. They also found a large quantity of used needles, vials and a ledger that contained 205 names in it.