A Carter County man faces multiple charges after police said he attempted to obtain prescription medication by calling a local pharmacy and pretending to be an employee of a physician’s office.
Elizabethton Police Department Cpl. Sarah Ellison-Dingus arrested Andrew Donald Oliver, 25, of 900 Charity Hill Road, Elizabethton on Tuesday and charged him with prescription drug fraud, possession of Schedule III drugs and possession of Schedule IV drugs.
Around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Ellison-Dingus responded to Walgreen’s Pharmacy, located at 214 Broad Street, after a pharmacy employee called 911 and reported a prescription drug fraud. When Ellison-Dingus arrived on scene, she spoke with a pharmacist who reported a man he knew as Andrew Oliver came into the pharmacy and attempted to pick up a fraudulent prescription. The officer noted the pharmacy had reported the incident of fraud earlier in the day to another officer.
In the initial report, pharmacy staff told EPD Sgt. Curtis Bullock the pharmacy had received a voice mail message around 9 p.m. from a male subject who identified himself as “Eric” and said he was calling from “Doctor Tino’s office.” The man on the voice mail said he was calling in a prescription of 30 Clonazepam for a “Kevin Roberts.” Store employees said they were able to identify the telephone number the call came from and provided that number to officers.
“Walgreen’s employees later called Dr. Tino’s office and asked about the called in prescription,” Ellison-Dingus said. “Employees were then informed by (an employee) at Dr. Tino’s office that there was no one named Eric that worked at the office and the prescription was fraudulent.”
Ellison-Dingus then spoke with Oliver regarding the incident and he told the officer he was at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription by request of a friend’s father.
While speaking with Oliver, Ellison-Dingus said he provided her with his current cell phone number and it matched the number pharmacy employees said was used to call in the fraudulent prescription. Ellison-Dingus said she then arrested Oliver on a charge of prescription drug fraud.
“During the arrest process Oliver was discovered to possess two prescription bottles with a mixture of prescription medications,” Ellison-Dingus said. Officers located four Diazepam pills, nine Alprazolam pills, six whole Suboxone pills and one-half of a Suboxone pill, 61 whole Clonazepam pills and two partial pieces of Clonazepam pills, she said.
Following the discovery of the pills, Ellison-Dingus charged Oliver with possession of Schedule III drugs and possession of Schedule IV drugs.
Oliver appeared in Carter County General Sessions Court on Wednesday morning. Judge Keith Bowers Jr. lowered Oliver’s bond from $8,000 to $1,000 and scheduled him to return to court on July 19.