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Attempt To Steal Drugs Shuts Down Pediatric Ward

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: March 4, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - One man's attempt to steal prescription drugs Saturday shut down the pediatric unit of Oak Hill Hospital.

The suspect, Christian Cole, was waiting in the emergency room for treatment of panic attacks when a registered nurse saw him rifling through a cart that held the pediatric medicine, according to an affidavit.

Cole, 40, stepped back from the cart when the nurse yelled at him to stop, but the damage had been done. The nurse called authorities and explained to a deputy that the drugs on the cart were useless because Cole had broken the seal.

The nurse said this created an "extreme pediatric emergency" because all children would have to be turned away until the drugs were replaced. The nurse placed the value of the drugs at $2,000.

Cole initially told the deputy he was looking for a cup of water, then changed his story and said his chair had broken the cart and broken the seal. Cole's pockets were searched and the deputy said he found two vials of epinephrine - a drug that was missing from the cart.

Cole was arrested on charges of grand theft, possession of a drug without prescription and felony criminal mischief. Once at the jail, more prescription drugs were reportedly found in Cole's pocket, so he was given another charge of possession of a drug without a prescription and additionally charged with introduction of contraband into a jail.

It's unclear from the report how long the hospital was without pediatric drugs.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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