Police: South Allegheny teacher forged stolen prescriptions for painkillers
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A South Allegheny High School teacher was charged this week with six counts each of illegal acquisition of prescription pills and illegal possession of a controlled substances after his arrest in April for allegedly passing a forged prescription at a Ligonier pharmacy.
Alex J. Stright, 39, of Jefferson Hills, was arraigned this week before Ligonier District Judge Denise Thiel and released on $20,000 unsecured bond.
Stright is also charged with burglary, forgery and identity theft.
According to the complaint filed by Ligonier Valley Police Chief John Berger, Susan Anthony, a pharmacist at Ligonier Valley Pharmacy on South Market Street, phoned police April 23 about an Allegheny County man who was trying to fill a prescription for 26 Percocet pills, an opiate painkiller, that was made out to Stright’s wife, who was not present.
Court records said Anthony told Berger she had unsuccessfully attempted to reach a West Mifflin dentist who had purportedly written the prescription to verify it. Anthony subsequently informed Stright she had only 10 pills left and he would have to return later in the week to complete the order.
The next day, police were notified when Stright returned to fill the prescription. Berger said in court documents that he stopped Stright as he left the pharmacy and he was questioned at the police station.
Berger reported Stright claimed during the interview that “a buddy” had stolen the dentist’s prescription pad in March after finding a basement door in the office unlocked. Stright also told investigator he had become addicted to the painkillers after surgery several years ago, but “had got clean.”
He told police he began using again in early this year after the death of his father.
Subsequent investigation by Berger and Latrobe Police Chief John Sleasman disclosed that Stright had also passed prescriptions from the stolen prescription pad at pharmacies in Baldwin, Clairton and Pleasant Hills between March 30 and April 24. Both Berger and Sleasman are members of the Westmoreland County Drug Task Force.
Berger reported Stright allegedly obtained one painkiller prescription that was written out in the name of his deceased father.
Stright could not be reached for comment. Messages left for South Allegheny School District officials were not immediately returned.
A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled June 12 before Thiel.