An arrest of a Roanoke Rapids woman on numerous charges who was a former home health worker demonstrates the lengths people will go to allegedly abuse prescription dugs.
“We see more prescription drug problems,” Captain Andy Jackson of the city's police department said this morning. “It's definitely on the rise.”
Because of their prevalence, many people think the charges will be less for prescription drugs because they are legal, Jackson said. That is not the case and the arrest Monday of Sybyl Scott, 39, demonstrates that.
Scott was arrested following a lengthy investigation that began in August by the police department's narcotics investigators and grew to include an investigation by detectives Jeff Baggett and Corey Dixon, with Officer John Taylor leading the probe.
The investigation led officers to charge Scott, of 910 B Henry Street, with larceny by employee, three counts of misdemeanor possession of stolen goods, one count of larceny from a person, simple possession of schedule II, possession of drug paraphernalia, filing a false police report, obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, misdemeanor larceny, possession of stolen goods and simple possession of schedule IV.
Jackson said the first four charges against Scott reflect when she was employed by a health care facility and she allegedly stole a nebulizer from the company and a Fetanyl patch from a patient.
The charges also reflect that officers in their investigation recovered the nebulizer and discovered a stolen checkbook and bank statement belonging to another person.
While working at another job she allegedly stole pain pills from a patient. Jackson said the paraphernalia charge reflects straws were found at her house that were allegedly used for snorting prescription drugs.
The last charges against Scott, Jackson said, show she went to a drug store to have Loritab and Prozac prescriptions filled and then reported to police the prescriptions were stolen so she could allegedly get more.
Scott was jailed on $10,000 bond and has an August 17 court date.
