PAYSON, Utah — A 22-year-old nurse in Payson has been arrested after police say she was caught on camera stealing medications from patients at an assisted living facility.
Ellie Hickman was arrested Thursday and faces charges of endangerment of a vulnerable adult, possession of a schedule I/II drug, and theft.
Officers with the Payson Police Department were called Thursday to Orchard View Assisted Living after they reported an employee, Hickman, was suspected of stealing 70 tablets of Oxycodone.
The owner of the facility told police that there were multiple hours of footage showing Hickman accessing the patient medication cart. Hickman was allegedly seen on video accessing the cart, collecting Oxycodone packages, and concealing them under a notebook. Hickman then collected the notebook and put it in a bag before moving out of the camera's view.
On Wednesday, the owner of the facility discovered that Oxycodone packages inside the medication cart had been tampered with. Officials said some pills had been taken out and replaced with other similar-looking pills.
According to detectives, the switching of the pills could have caused serious complications for the residents at the home. Additionally, every package that was tampered with had to be discarded for safety.
