Court docs: Nurse allegedly stole drugs, got high on job, then refilled vials with mystery liquid
A nurse at a Texas hospital is facing multiple felonies after he allegedly stole drug vials, injected himself while working, refilled the vials with a mystery solution and then replaced them for future use on patients.
Kyle Evans, 29, was charged with tampering with a consumer product and drug diversion. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on Thursday.
According to his arrest affidavit, law enforcement officials were first notified of the alleged misconduct in February, after Evans was caught stealing five vials of hydromorphone, a pain reliever, from a Pyxis machine, a computer-controlled drug dispenser, at Northeast Methodist Hospital in Live Oak, about 14 miles outside of downtown San Antonio.
Evans later allegedly admitted to several hospital staff members that he had stolen the drugs. A Drug Enforcement Agency agent then conducted an investigation into the allegations and found video depicting Evans stealing the drugs, according to the affidavit.
In May, investigators with the Live Oak Police Department interviewed Evans. During questioning, Evans allegedly confessed to stealing the drugs, injecting them with a syringe while on the job as a registered nurse and then returning the vials to the Pyxis machine.
Police say he also admitted to refilling the vials and gluing their lids shut to make them appear unused. Three of the five vials were sent for further testing. One of the vials showed traces of lidocaine and the results of the other two are still pending. Evans said he used saline solution to refill them, according to police records.
Investigators are concerned that Evans may have used the same syringe with which he injected himself to refill the vials. Evans is HIV positive, the affidavit states, and could have spread the disease to other patients.
Live Oak police and hospital staff have thus far been "not able to determine" whether the same syringes were used.