Boynton nurses accused of stealing meds from patients
BOYNTON BEACH — Two nurses at a nursing home in Boynton Beach have been arrested after they allegedly stole drugs intended for ailing elderly patients and swapped them with Tylenol tablets, according to arrest reports.
The thefts left multiple patients at Hamlin Place of Boynton Beach in pain after they did not receive their proper medications, the reports said.
Aaron J. Peterson, 37, of B oy n t o n B e a c h i s f a c i n g drug-trafficking charges as well as accusations of fraud, grand theft and elderly abuse. Peterson, who was the facility’s assistant director of nursing, was being held at the Palm Beach County Jail late Tuesday in lieu of $326,000 bail.
Jol i e Lynn Kat z , 40, of Royal Palm Beach and a registered nurse at Hamlin, is facing charges of larceny, fraud, possession of controlled substances and elderly abuse and was released from jail Saturday after posting a $12,000 bond.
According to an investigation that included the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and state law enforcement, Peterson and Katz stole 905 tablets of controlled substances — mostly Percocet and oxycodone — with a value of $515.
T h e t h e f t s we r e f i r s t reported to Boynton Beach police in May. Peterson, Katz and a third person who has not been arrested were drugtested and suspended by Hamlin Place after the thefts were reported.
One alleged victim told investigators that she spent two months at Hamlin, on Hypoluxo Road west of High Ridge Road, recovering from neck surgery and said that she did not feel much relief after taking pain medication and that her discomfort often got worse. The report states that several patients whose pain medication may have been altered could not be interviewed because of their conditions.
Peterson told police in December that he had an addiction to opiates before he was hired at Hamlin Place in May 2015. He said that he and Katz had been stealing prescription pain medications for “the last few months” before they were caught.
Katz told investigators that Peterson was a friend who hired her at Hamlin in about September 2015 after she was fired from another nursing home. Katz said she stole medication from her elderly patients for five months and that she usually gave Peterson 10 to 15 pills a day and kept two to four for herself.
A call to Hamlin Place officials seeking comment was not returned.