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Three nurses are under indictment in Warren County. Investigators say the nurses stole prescription pain medicine from their patients.
None of the cases are connected.
All three former nurses happened to be indicted Monday in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
T. Martin, A. Vazquez and R. Leonhardt are all charged with fourth-degree felonies. They’re accused of taking opioids prescribed to patients in their care.
Warren County prosecuting attorney David Fornshell confirmed Martin worked at Cedarview Rehabilitation and Nursing Care in Lebanon.
According to court documents, the alleged incident happened in August. The facility did not return a request for comment.
Vazquez worked at Carlisle Health Manor. A Carlisle representative declined to comment, citing the ongoing legal matter.
The indictment shows the charges stem from incidents that allegedly occurred in August.
Vazquez faces 22 counts of theft of drugs and illegal processing of drug documents.
Court records show Vazquez has a history of drug addiction. In July, she overdosed on heroin.
Leonhardt was employed by Hillspring Transitional Care Center in Springboro. The indictment says the alleged crimes happened Sept. 8 and 9.
Springboro police confirmed there is an open investigation involving Leonhardt. Her former employer had no comment.
The Warren County Drug Task Force investigated all three cases.
All three are set to be arraigned Dec. 7.
According to the Ohio Board of Nursing 2018 annual report, more than 7,000 complaints have been filed against nurses this year.
Of those complaints, 78 are drug- and alcohol-related.