WATERVILLE — A secretary who allegedly stole a doctor’s prescription pad and forged prescriptions to obtain narcotics will appear in court next month with two other people charged in the case, according to police.

Lindsay Hoak, 23, of Benton, was arrested Tuesday and charged with misdemeanor theft for stealing the prescription pad; one count of acquiring drugs by deception, a class C felony; and 10 counts of class D misdemeanor forgery, according to Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey, of the Waterville police.

“Lindsay actually stole a prescription pad from MaineGeneral Medical Center, where she is employed as a secretary,” Rumsey said Wednesday.

Cody Emerson, 22, of Winslow, was charged with one count of aggravated trafficking, a class A felony; one count of unlawful possession of oxycodone, a class C felony; and sale and use of drug paraphernalia, a civil violation.

Mitchell MacArthur, 23, of Fairfield, was charged with five counts of acquiring drugs by deception, a felony; and is being investigated by Fairfield police in three cases in which he is believed to have picked up prescription drugs from a pharmacy there.

“Hoak was forging them and MacArthur was picking them up,” Rumsey said. He said another person would be charged in the case.

Hoak, MacArthur and Emerson are scheduled to appear March 26 in Kennebec County Superior Court. They were charged after an investigation that started Jan. 30 and ultimately involved Waterville and Fairfield police, as well as officials from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Rumsey said.

A caller from Rite Aid on Main Street called police Jan. 30 to report someone was trying to get narcotics with a prescription that did not appear valid, Rumsey said.

A police officer spoke with the pharmacist and learned that two previous prescriptions from a MaineGeneral Medical Center pad had been filled and appeared to be forged, Rumsey said.

Officer Galen Estes, assisted by Detective Duane Cloutier, Fairfield Detective Sgt. Kingston Paul and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agents, went to pharmacies in Waterville and Fairfield where prescriptions were passed, he said. They interviewed pharmacists and viewed surveillance videos.

Police believe about 15 prescriptions were forged and passed in those towns, as well as in Winslow, Rumsey said.

“We believe that she (Hoak) was the one who actually physically forged the prescriptions that were passed,” he said.

Tuesday afternoon, police watched Hoak and Emerson as they drove to The Concourse in downtown Waterville and conducted a drug transaction, according to Rumsey.

“During the transaction, Emerson sold two 30-milligram oxycodone pills to another subject,” he said, “and very shortly after that occurred, our officers stopped the vehicle that Hoak was driving and arrested both her and Emerson.”

When police took Hoak into custody, they found three unwritten prescriptions in her purse and eight oxycodone pills on Emerson, Rumsey said.

MacArthur went to the police station Tuesday afternoon, where he was arrested, he said.

All the forged prescriptions in the case were for 30 15-milligram oxycodone pills and were passed at pharmacies Jan. 9 through 29, according to Rumsey. The 420 pills obtained through forged prescriptions have a street value of about $8,400, he said.

Amy Calder — 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com

Copy the Story Link