An Ozark licensed practical nurse was arrested on Thursday and charged with numerous counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Theft of Property and Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent after police say she stole more than 170 Hydrocodone and an undetermined number of Oxycodone by switching out pills intended for a nursing home's patients with Tylenol and Seroquel.
The court information and affidavit for warrant says 49-year old Cathy Lynn Quinter of Ozark switched out the pills in a number of illicit transactions, pocketing the narcotics and gave Tylenol in med cups to the patients who actually held the prescriptions for the drugs.
Some patients weren't receiving their meds at all and one was receiving a double dosage of the Seroquel.
The discrepancies were discovered when a registered nurse at the facility was doing an inventory of the med room where patient drugs are stored. The subterfuge resulted in Quinter stealing 172 Hydrocodone tablets from five patients and an unknown number of Oxycodone tablets from a sixth.
Police developed Quinter as a suspect after reviewing security video from the med room. A warrant was issued for Quinter on July 19 and she was arrested on Thursday.
Information from the arrest affidavit indicates Quinter had tested positive for Hydrocodone earlier in a urinalysis required as part of her employment bit she had a prescription for the drug and was allowed to stay on staff. She was terminated from the nursing home before she was arrested.
Quinter was charged with five counts of Possession poof a Controlled Substance, five counts of Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent and one count 0f Theft of Property. She was booked into the Franklin County jail at 1:43 p.m. on Thursday and and bonded out in a little more than two-and-one half hours.
She faces five Class C and six Class D felonies after a plea of not guilty and waiver of formal arraignment.
Affidavit for Arrest
