Bowen was indicted in January on charges of four counts of trafficking in drugs, four counts of possession of drugs, three counts of deception to obtain a dangerous drug, nine counts of theft of drugs, receiving stolen property, counterfeiting and grand theft. She is due to begin trial on the charges on April 28.
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As of Thursday morning, Bowen was not listed as an inmate in the Clark County Jail.
The investigation into Bowen began on Sept. 6 when the owner of Harding Road Pharmacy, located at 400 W. Harding Rd. in Springfield, called the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy to report “he had a pharmacy technician stealing controlled substances,” according to an affidavit filed in the case.
“(The pharmacy owner) stated he was reviewing his wholesale sales to Madison Avenue Pharmacy and Springfield Pharmacy and found six suspicious sales since August, 1,” the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, the owner called the pharmacy on Madison Avenue and they confirmed they did not make the purchases.
“All of the suspicious sales were cashed out at their Point of Sale (POS) by the same person, Certified Pharmacy Technician Elizabeth Bowen,” the affidavit said. “(The pharmacy owner) advised he was able to check video evidence and verify that CPT Bowen had bagged up and cashed out all six transactions.”
Later that day, the pharmacy owner ran a report of all wholesale sales from Jan. 1, 2018 until Sept. 6, 2019, the affidavit said.
“(The pharmacy owner) advised he identified 39,500 tablets of benzodiazepines e.g. alprazolam, clonazepam as well as tramadol and phentermine in varying manufactures, strengths and doses which had been stolen,” the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, on Sept. 10, another bulk order of phentermine was stolen from the Harding Road Pharmacy.
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“Bowen placed the order for the bulk order. Bowen bagged it up,” the affidavit said. “Officers followed her home, but she made four stops on the way.”
On Sept. 23, Bowen placed a bulk order of 1,000 count of alprazolam, the affidavit said.
“On Sept. 24, officers witnessed the delivery to the Harding Road Pharmacy. The bulk order, once again, went missing- the bottle had been marked with a UV market,” the affidavit said.
Officers followed Bowen as she left the pharmacy that day, where they initiated a traffic stop, the affidavit said. Bowen was then arrested.
“The bulk order was found in the back of Bowen’s vehicle in a paper pharmacy bag,” the affidavit said. “Officers had witnessed Bowen take the paper pharmacy bag from the pharmacy. Bowen did not have the authority to take the bulk order from the pharmacy.”
Bowen is set to begin trial for the drug-related charges on April 28. A next court date for her engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity charge has not yet been set.
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