An employee of the
CVS Pharmacy at 3240 Willowcreek in Portage has been arrested on a charge of
theft, after Portage Police said that she stole thousands of prescription
diet pills.
According to
police, at 5:08 p.m. Wednesday Tammie L. Armstrong, 57, of 5074 Exeter Ave.,
was taken into custody after she admitted removing--“for personal use
without prescription or purchase”--both 37.5 mg and 30 mg dosages of
Phentermine pills from the pharmacy over a period of more than three years,
since January 2013.
Armstrong advised
the investigating office that “she had previously been diagnosed with
attention deficit disorder and prescribed Ritalin,” police said. But “she no
longer has medical benefits and was stealing the pills to ‘self-medicate.”
Armstrong stated
that she would open 100-pill bottles, “take ‘a few at a time,’” and conceal
them “in the pockets of her pants during her work shift,” police said.
CVS calculated that
Armstrong stole a total of 3,696 37.5 mg pills valued at $5,691.84; and 21
30 mg pills valued at $21.63, police said.
Armstrong was
transported to Porter County Jail.