Ohio Police Officer Caught Stealing and Selling Pills

Senior Writer

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An Ohio police officer is accused of stealing heartburn and antidepressant pills which authorities believe she later tried to sell.

Forest Park Police Officer Ashley Meyer, 35, allegedly took two bottles of pills while working as a cop for the Colerain Township Police Department, according to court documents.

The incident occurred on November 10, 2017, when then Colerain Township Police Officer Meyer allegedly removed "two prescription bottles" containing 30 Escitalopram and 90 Omeprazole pills from a Schuster Court residence, according to an affidavit obtained by Newsweek.

Escitalopram is a generic version of the antidepressant; Lexapro and Omeprazole are prescribed to treat heartburn, according to the Food and Drug Administration website.

Meyer was charged with theft in office, drug trafficking and drug possession, according to court records.

The 11-year veteran resigned from the department last year to accept a position with nearby Forest Park, according to a Forest Park Police Department statement.

Once the charges of the drug theft and trafficking came to light, the statement confirmed that Meyer "resigned" from her position, where she was earning just over $70,000 in annual salary.

ashley_meyer — Forest Park police officer Ashley Meyer, 35, was charged with theft in office, drug trafficking and drug possession charges, for allegedly lifting pills and fencing them through a third party. Hamilton County Sheriff's Office

Authorities believe Meyer supplied another person with the illicit prescription pills; detectives intervened and took possession of them before they could be hawked, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Meyer was arrested on Thursday, and her Colerain Township residence was searched. There, investigators discovered additional narcotics including methamphetamine, marijuana and a white powder. All were sent to the Hamilton County coroner's laboratory to be examined, the Enquirer reported.

Newsweek's attempts to reach Meyer were unsuccessful.

Colerain Township Police Department spokesman Jim Love told Newsweek there were no signs of malfeasance when Meyer served in the department.

"If we knew this was going on, we would have dealt with it," he said. "And if Forest Park [Police Department] picked up some of that, they probably wouldn't have hired her."

As a cop, Meyer was well regarded and trustworthy, Love noted. "We even installed her as an SRO [school resource officer]. All this was news to us, I don't know what to tell you."