Missouri Deputy Fire Chief Faces Charges Of Stealing Drugs

July 22, 2004
The deputy chief of a suburban St. Louis fire department faces seven counts of stealing drugs, authorities said Thursday.
MEHLVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- The deputy chief of a suburban St. Louis fire department faces seven counts of stealing drugs, authorities said Thursday.

Warrants were issued late Wednesday against Gregory A. Harwood, 47, deputy chief of the Mehlville Fire Protection District in south St. Louis County, according to Stltoday.com, the Web site for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Authorities said Harwood took more morphine from St. Anthony's Medical Center than paramedics needed for patients' pain relief, and used the excess for himself.

Authorities said they also found the drug midazolam in Harwood's fire department vehicle when they confronted him about the missing morphine on May 5.

In an affidavit accompanying the warrant, Drug Task Force Officer Mike Otten said Harwood told him that he had become addicted and had used morphine.

Harwood has been with the district for 18 years. He is listed as the EMS supervisor on the district's phone system.

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