Posted on Wed, Jan. 11, 2006
McKinney firefighter arrested for stealing drugsBy BILL MILLER
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
A firefighter in McKinney was booked into the Collin County Jail on Wednesday after he confessed to stealing medications from the Fire Department's stockpiles, according to police.
Capt. Randy Roland, police spokesman, said in a news release that the firefighter, Mark Hemphill, 28, faces charges of tampering with a consumer product, a second-degree felony.
Hemphill, also a paramedic, was placed on administrative leave ``pending his termination from the McKinney Fire Department,'' Roland said.
A jail spokesman said Wednesday that Hemphill was released from the jail on a $5,000 bond.
Officials for the McKinney Fire Department were unavailable for comment.
The investigation began Dec. 21 when a captain with the McKinney Fire Department ``noticed the tamper-proof seals were disturbed on numerous medicine vials'' in the department's central storage area, Roland said.
A lab reported Monday that tests showed that the vials ``had been tampered with by replacing the contents of the medical package with water,'' Roland said.
Police interviewed Hemphill on Tuesday, Roland said, and he confessed to stealing and using the drugs, Roland said.
``A review of all emergency medical incident reports is under way by the McKinney Fire Department,'' Roland said. ``Based on preliminary results we have no information at this time that any patient received diluted or tampered medication by McKinney Fire Department paramedics.''
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