2 Women Caught Smuggling Drugs to Hospital Patient
Hidden in a food bag, heroin was discovered by nurses at UPMC Altoona hospital.
Image via Adobe, by ibreakstock
After handing a Wendy’s food bag filled with heroin and syringes to a hospital greeter at UPMC Altoona hospital in Altoona, Pennsylvania., two women are facing multiple felony drug charges. The bag, which the greeter promptly delivered to the nurse’s station, was intended to go to a patient at the hospital. The nurses, however, tipped off by unusual behavior by the patient the night before while one of the women was visiting, searched the bag.
Inside, they found 10 stamp bags filled with suspected heroin, a syringe in a candy box, and a hamburger, according to a July 15 report by the Altoona Mirror.
According to court documents, the night before, the patient’s mental state appeared altered after going into the bathroom with the visitor. When the woman showed up at UPMC Altoona, the nurses were suspicious and therefore examined the contents of the bag.
Police were called to the scene, at which point they retrieved the contents and informed the patient that visitors were no longer permitted.
One woman delivered the bag while the other stayed in the car parked outside UPMC Altoona’s lobby entrance, revealed surveillance footage reviewed by police. Both women are being charged. The patient was unaware of the involvement of the woman waiting in the car, but agreed to write a statement incriminating her.
The incident happened on June 17, and the two Duncanville women, Christine A. Eger, 56, who delivered the bag to the hospital greeter, and Shannon L. Brubaker, 38, who waited in the passenger seat of the car, have been arraigned by Magisterial District Court Judge Daniel DeAntonio. Bail for Brubaker and Eger was set at $30,000 cash each. Neither woman posted bail and were detained at Blair County Prison.
Preliminary hearings for both took place July 7, court documents stated. They face felony and misdemeanor drug charges that include possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
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