Dexter nurse placed on supervised probation for stealing prescripion drugs

~ Natalie Ritter was allegedly stealing medication from clients of Caring Hearts Home Care in Dexter

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Dexter, Mo., nurse who pleaded guilty to stealing prescription medication will spend the next five years on probation.

At her sentencing hearing Wednesday, Presiding Circuit Judge Stephen R. Sharp suspended the imposition of a sentence on Natalie Ritter, 27, and placed her on five years' supervised probation.

Ritter plead guilty to the of stealing a controlled substance in January, at which time Sharp ordered that the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole conduct a Sentence Advisory Report. Sharp used the contents of that report to help decide what Ritter's punishment should be.

In the complaint originally filed against her by Dexter Police Detective Lt. Trevor Pulley, Pulley said on March 6 he was contacted regarding Ritter allegedly stealing medication from clients of Caring Hearts Home Care in Dexter.

"[The business] was contacted by [the victim] regarding problems with her medication of hydrocodone," Pulley said.

He said when the victim contacted a local pharmacy and asked about the medication in her bottle, she was allegedly informed that the description she gave of the medication in her hydrocodone bottle matched the description of over-the-counter Tylenol.

The following day, according to the complaint, Pulley contacted the pharmacy where the prescription was filled and it was confirmed that the pharmacy had told the victim that the medication in her bottle matched the description of Tylenol.

Pulley then confirmed that the prescription bottle had originally been filled with hydrocodone and that Ritter had signed for the medication when it was picked up.

Pulley confirmed with the victim that Ritter had picked up the prescriptions and delivered them to the victim's home. The victim denied anyone else having had access to the medication, which is kept on her living room table.

Pulley was also able to learn through a subpoena sent to West Wood Hills Healthcare Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo., that Ritter was previously employed with that company and was allegedly fired because of violation of policy, house rules and misconduct.