Copyright 2006 The News and Observer
By SARAH OVASKA
The News & Observer (North Carolina)
RALEIGH, N.C. — A former paramedic was arrested Monday and charged with stealing liquid morphine from ambulances.
Jason N. Greulich, 28, of 152 Wolfsnare Lane in Morrisville, faces 17 counts of embezzling controlled substances from December to mid-March, according to arrest warrants.
Monday’s arrest came more than two weeks after Greulich was charged with failing to keep records of the controlled substances, said Jim Sughrue, spokesman for the Raleigh Police Department.
Greulich had worked for Wake County Emergency Medical Services for eight to nine months when he was fired in mid-March, said Chief Skip Kirkwood of Wake County EMS.
Supervisors think Greulich stole the morphine from the ambulances and then used saline to fill the 10-milligram morphine containers, Kirkwood said. But in doing so, tamper-proof bottles were opened and the altered packages caught the attention of EMS supervisors who conduct daily inventories of controlled substances.
After noticing the altered packaging, supervisors immediately had morphine tested from several of the different ambulances that Greulich worked from and discovered pain relief medication had been significantly diluted, Kirkwood said.
Kirkwood does not think any patients were given the diluted morphine.
In a search of Greulich’s home March 15, police detectives seized syringes and Greulich’s medical technician badge, according to court documents.
Police would not say whether they think Greulich used the morphine himself, sold it or gave it to another person.
Greulich is at the Wake County jail in lieu of a $200,000 bail.