The Dalton Police Department is investigating a case of prescription fraud after a man used a fake prescription to obtain a controlled substance and then apparently later attempted to do so again at the same pharmacy.
The incident happened at the Kroger pharmacy on West Walnut Avenue in November.
The pharmacy received a prescription by fax for a medication containing codeine and also other medications. The prescription was purportedly made by a doctor from Atlanta. The pharmacist did not suspect that the prescription was not genuine and filled the order. The medication was picked up a short time later and paid for with cash by a suspect who was recorded by the store's surveillance cameras.
A day later, the store was contacted by a pharmacist at the Kroger location in Warner Robins, Ga., who had received an identical prescription under the same circumstances and after investigation they determined that the prescription was faked and fraudulent. They contacted the Dalton location after checking their computer system and finding the same contact information for the fake "patient" name in their database.
One day later, the Dalton pharmacy again received an identical prescription, only with a different patient name and a different doctor's name. The prescription was supposedly made by a doctor in Montana. The pharmacy refused to fill the prescription after determining it was obviously fake. The pharmacy was contacted by phone several times by a person asking when the medications would be ready, and the caller was informed the prescription would not be filled. The pharmacy then contacted police.
The suspect who took the prescription order from Dalton is a Black man who wore a black sweatshirt and a black COVID mask. He had medium length black hair in twists or braids. Anyone who recognizes this man is asked to contact Detective Charles Williams at 706 278-9085, extension 9-280.