A former Albany Medical Center employee has rejected a plea deal in a theft case.

Caitlin Mullaney is accused of taking a ring off a sleeping patient in the emergency room.

The plea deal would have sent Mullaney to prison for up to three years.

She was working as a patient care technician in the emergency room when she took the ring back in July, police said.

The patient was sleeping on a stretcher.

It appears the case is now headed to trial.