By Pamela Staik
The Sun Herald
Copyright 2008 Sun Coast Media Group, Inc.
CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office is investigating prescription medicine thefts that have allegedly occurred at Charlotte County Fire and EMS stations while engines were responding to false calls.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office is investigating claims that prescription drugs were stolen at Charlotte County Fire & EMS stations while firefighters responded to false calls.
The investigation was kicked off Friday, when a Charlotte County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a burglary at Fire Station 6 in Punta Gorda. The station had received a phone call regarding a car accident with injuries. An engine and a rescue unit responded, but workers were unable to find any signs of a collision.
Upon returning to the station, a firefighter went to his vehicle and found that items in his unlocked truck had been moved around. When he searched a bag of personal belongings, he found that his prescription bottle of Percocet was missing.
A deputy checked the call log and found that the name given to the 911 operator regarding the false accident was another firefighter who was home sick in North Port at the time of the call.
However, the phone number did not belong to the ill firefighter, but was found to match another firefighter, who is on probation for a second DUI charge. Station personnel have had to lock up drugs, including Benadryl, because this firefighter was known to take them, according to the police report.
Another firefighter told deputies that approximately 60-65 Vicodin pills were removed from a prescription bottle kept in his personal duffel bag in December.
Deputies also learned of several other incidents since February in which firefighters noticed their belongings had been disturbed and pills stolen while they were responding to calls.
The report states that the only known call to be placed from the suspect’s cell phone was on Friday, but his whereabouts at the time of the other false calls and thefts are unknown.
No arrest had been made in the case as of Monday evening.
While department officials have stated that a member of the department is on administrative leave without pay, they say it is regarding an unrelated matter.
Fire & EMS spokeswoman Dee Hawkins said she was only aware of two incidents of theft being reported -- one in March and one on Friday.
“These other ones were never reported to headquarters, so we were surprised to see it in the investigation,” Hawkins said.
Despite this, she said the agency is being as cooperative as possible with investigators.
“I know the Sheriff’s Office is doing an investigation and we will be cooperative with them,” Hawkins said. “The chief is reviewing all the different situations. We want to get to the bottom of this, just like everybody else.”