Ex-nurse faces pill-theft charge

Woman also accused of falsifying records at nursing home

HOT SPRINGS — A former nurse at a local nursing home was arrested Dec. 20 on a felony charge on accusations of stealing medication from residents in October and falsifying records indicating she had given the drugs.

Talisa Milam Haygood, 49, who lists a Greenleaf Trail address in Royal, was taken into custody shortly after 3:30 p.m. at the Hot Springs Police Department and charged with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. She was later released on $3,500 bond and is set to appear Tuesday in Garland County District Court.

At the time of her arrest, she indicated she was unemployed but was reportedly employed at Lakewood Therapy and Living Center, 260 Lakepark Drive, when the alleged fraud occurred.

According to the probable-cause affidavit, the administrator at Lakewood filed a report with police on Oct. 10 after reviewing video surveillance footage at the center following a complaint by a resident about some missing Nexium pills.

In viewing the footage, he reportedly saw a nurse, identified as Haygood, removing a hydrocodone pill from the medication cart shortly before 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 9 and placing it in her mouth. The administrator counted the pills in the cart and compared it to the entries made by Haygood in the prescription log book.

He then spoke to the residents Haygood had indicated received their pain medication and found two residents who had not received any medication. One patient told him Haygood had refused to give her any hydrocodone at the prescribed time but instead gave her a Tylenol pill.

One patient was reportedly not capable of advising if he received any medication, but a review of the security footage showed Haygood never entered the man’s room at the time indicated and only went into his room once during her eight-hour shift for about three seconds.

The administrator noted that in the entry for that patient Haygood had indicated she had crushed the pill up in a solution and injected it into the patient, but the video showed Haygood never retrieved a syringe from the storage closet.

Police Detective Jesus Anaya spoke to the administrator and one patient who confirmed the same information. The administrator noted he has video evidence of 17 “pill diversions” by Haygood and is still reviewing the footage to compile more evidence.

A warrant for Haygood’s arrest was issued on Dec. 11.