Tisbury police investigate theft of ambulance narcotics

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A budget transfer for ambulance repairs may require a January special town meeting in Tisbury. — MV Times File Photo

Tisbury police are investigating the theft of a bag that contained about 45 different medications, some of them controlled substances including narcotics, from the town’s spare ambulance, sometime between Christmas Eve and Monday afternoon.

Detective Mark Santon told The Times the vials, along with syringes and sharps for injections, were in a red canvas bag about the size of a large laptop computer case. The are worth about $3,000, according to Detective Santon.

“In case someone discards any of it, we want to alert the public that it may look like medical waste, such as glass vials or discarded packages the size of toothpaste boxes,” Mr. Santon said in a phone call to The Times Tuesday. “People should be cautious if they come across any of it, because some of the drugs could be very dangerous if misused. If anyone finds anything suspect, we advise them not to touch it and to contact their local police department.”

The town’s secondary ambulance is stored in a building with the fire department’s ladder truck, next to Tisbury’s Department of Public Works on High Point Lane.

“We figure it was broken into sometime since the afternoon of Christmas Eve,” Detective Santon said. “We have folks from the ambulance department who check it regularly to make sure the battery is charged and everything is in good order. Someone last checked it on Christmas Eve and went up to run it yesterday and found the door ajar and the complete narcotics bag taken.”

Detective Santon said the bag was stored in a locked cabinet inside the ambulance. The lock had been cut off.

“Someone just went for that and left other equipment, such as a laptop, behind,” he said. “Whoever did it knew exactly what they were looking for.”

Detective Santon said he checked with the other Island emergency medical services immediately after the theft was discovered. None of them reported similar incidents. Tisbury ambulance department personnel have already been processed for fingerprints, as part of an investigation underway in combination with police departments Island-wide, Detective Santon said. Anyone with information may call 508-696-4240.