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Edward Lynn Dominic, 26, was charged Thursday with three felony crimes and a misdemeanor following an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Dominic was charged in one case with abuse by caretaker and larceny of a controlled dangerous substance, both felony crimes. The other case included charges of assault and battery, a misdemeanor, and larceny of a controlled dangerous substance, a felony.
The abuse by caretaker charge is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine of to $10,000. Larceny of a controlled dangerous substance is punishable by no more than 10 years imprisonment. The assault and battery is punishable by no more than 90 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
Warrants for Dominic’s arrest were also issued, with bond amounts of $20,000 and $10,000, online court records show.
On Jan. 28, 2016, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit received a complaint from the Oklahoma State Department of Health concerning the theft of narcotics from Garland Road Nursing Center, also known as Highland Park Manor, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
On Feb. 10, 2016, Attorney General’s Office investigator John Carnell was assigned to investigation possible drug diversion by Dominic, who was a certified nurse aide working at Garland Road Nursing Center.
Dominic was at the nursing center Jan. 16, 2016, while off duty and was recorded on the facility’s surveillance cameras, according to the affidavit. A certified medical assistant saw Dominic going in one of the rooms.
A North Enid police officer has resigned after being arrested Saturday on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Dominic approached the CMA and asked about the resident’s pain patch, Fentanyl, and when it would need to be changed, according to the affidavit. The CMA told Dominic she would check the patch and if it needed to be changed she would change it.
Dominic went back into the resident’s room, and the CMA entered the room several minutes later with a medication cart, according to the affidavit. The CMA determined the patch needed to be changed and applied a new patch to the resident’s shoulder. Dominic was present in the room while this occurred.
The CMA told the resident the old patch would have to be removed, but the resident said the old patch was missing, according to the affidavit. The CMA searched for the old patch but could not locate it. The CMA then placed tape over the new patch to ensure it did not come off the resident’s body.
Surveillance shows the CMA left the resident’s room, but Dominic stayed for several minutes. He is seen leaving the room and entering a nearby utility room for a few seconds before leaving the hall, according to the affidavit. Two CNAs entered the resident’s room about 20 minutes later to assist the resident to bed. During this time, they found the patch was missing from the resident’s body with the tape remaining.
Carnell interviewed the assistant director of nursing of the facility, who said she conducted an internal facility investigation into the incident.
She said the patch was never found anywhere in the resident’s room, according to the affidavit. She said she reviewed surveillance video and recognized Dominic. She said she spoke with the resident about that incident.
The resident said the man who came into her room presented himself as a doctor, according to the affidavit. She said he checked her patch and said it was coming off, so he placed tape on it to fix it.
The assistant director of nursing said she interviewed Dominic as part of her investigation.
She said he admitted he was in the resident’s room and that he asked her about her pain, according to the affidavit. He also confirmed the resident’s story and said he checked her pain patch.
The assistant director of nursing told Carnell a patch went missing from the resident earlier that week, butshe thought it had just come off during the resident’s bath, according to the affidavit. Dominic was in the facility at that time, as well.
The assistant director of nursing said the facility did not have any Fentanyl patches missing prior to Dominic starting work, according to the affidavit. After Dominic was fired, no other patches went missing.
On July 6, 2016, Carnell received a second complaint regarding the theft of narcotics. This complaint came from Detective James Buck with the Enid Police Department.
The complaint concerned allegation of a narcotics theft from The Commons by Dominic, who was employed as a certified nurse aide.
On June 26, 2016, Dominic was at the facility after being fired, according to the affidavit. A certified nurse aide saw Dominic was at the facility and notified other employees so they could keep an eye on him.
Employees lost sight of Dominic before a nurse confronted Dominic, who was standing on a sun porch on the east hall of the facility, according to the affidavit. Dominic told the nurse he’d left his wallet at the facility. The nurse escorted Dominic to the exit and told him to contact the director of nursing.
The nurse went to check a resident’s Fentanyl patch. That resident was the only patient on the east hall with that prescription, according to the affidavit. Upon checking for the patch, the nurse found it missing from the resident’s body. The nurse then contacted Enid Police Department.
Officer Kevin Everley investigated the incident, obtaining a photo of Dominic and interviewing the resident whose patch was stolen.
The resident told Everley the man in the photo had come into her room that evening, according to the affidavit. Everley spoke with Dominic at his residence, and Dominic admitted to being at the facility and speaking to the resident because she asked him for help. Dominic said he never retrieved help for her and could not explain why not.
Carnell interviewed the director of nursing. She said the facility did not have any Fentanyl patches missing until Dominic started working at the facility, according to the affidavit. She said several patches were taken from residents’ bodies in a 72-hour period. She said while investigating the incidents, she learned Dominic was working the halls at the times the patches went missing. After Dominic was fired, no other patches were missing.
Dominic was charged in 2014, when he was employed as an officer with the North Enid Police Department, with driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, eluding a police officer and transporting an open container of beer, all misdemeanors. He also had a citation for or speeding 26 to 30 mph over the limit related to the same incident as the other charges.
Dominic resigned from the department shortly after the incident and pleaded guilty to transporting an open container in September of 2014. The DUI and eluding charges were dropped, and Dominic pleaded no contest to the speeding.