Pharmacist's Due Diligence Leads to Prescription Drug Fraud Arrest, Police Say

Glen Rock's Rock Ridge Pharmacy on Friday thwarted another prescription drug fraud attempt, police said Monday morning.

According to Cpt. Jonathan Miller of the , 27-year-old New York man Travis Best is facing charges that he attempted to obtain Oxycodone with a faulty prescription.

Police allege Best walked into the Rock Ridge Pharmacy on Friday, June 8 and passed a fake prescription to the pharmacist. Miller said the alert pharmacist grew suspicious and once he was unable to verify the authenticity of the prescription with the doctor, called police.

Patrolmen Christopher McGill and James Surdyka arrived shortly thereafter and questioned Best, Miller said Monday. He was arrested on charges of attempt to obtain controlled dangerous substance by fraud, forgery by uttering, receiving stolen property and displaying a fraudulent government document. Best was released on his own recognizance, Miller said.

According to the detective's report, Best had been told of an earlier attempt on Friday by a New York female to obtain Oxycodone from an area pharmacy. Miller said police in Glen Rock have no report of that incident occurring within the borough.

Last month, a pharmacist at the  noticed a familiar man attempting to fill what he believed was an invalid prescription. The individual, , fit the description of a suspect whose "crew" of four on April 25, and unsuccessfully attempted to score oxycodone from the Rock Ridge Pharmacy the same day.

Police say they're not sure why Glen Rock specifically seems to be targeted, but note the theft attempts are occuring throughout the tri-state area and the alleged thieves seem to favor local stores over national chains.

"Eventually at some point the word will get out about this," Miller said of the recent arrests from alleged attempts made at Rock Ridge. "And people won't be coming here to fill these 'scrips."