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EAST BROOKFIELD – A veterinary technician has been charged with stealing 7,800 opioid pills and then trying to cover up the theft by doctoring records at the Spencer clinic where she worked.
Rebecca Renaud, 39, of 15 Gardner St., Southbridge, is due back in Western Worcester District Court on Aug. 8. She was arraigned June 19 on charges of larceny of a drug, larceny of more than $250 by a single scheme, forgery and uttering a false prescription. She was released on personal recognizance.
The pills, all of them prescription Tramadol, are used to treat pain in pets and humans, various medical websites show.
At the Spencer Veterinary Hospital, where she worked for six years, Ms. Renaud was responsible for ordering medications, and eventually other staff members began to notice that some medications she had ordered weren’t being checked in according to protocols, if at all, court documents state. When her boss questioned her in early May, Ms. Renaud allegedly became defensive, and the clinic owner asked police to investigate, according to court documents.
After a review of the clinic’s log book, Spencer police detective James J. Murray determined that some of the records had been altered, Ms. Renaud’s initials were near the changed entries and that drugs which had been ordered were missing.
He questioned Ms. Renaud and she denied the charges, but Officer Murray said her story did not make sense and police eventually sought charges against her.