Washington resident, police officer accused of stealing meds from veterinarian

Ryan Mills lives in Washington but works for Fairfield Police
AP
02/12/19

A southeastern Iowa police officer has been charged with burglary after allegedly breaking into a veterinary clinic to steal powerful pain medications.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety announced the arrest Monday of Ryan Mills, 31, who lives in Washington and works in Fairfield.

A criminal complaint alleges Mills was caught stealing 57 tablets of Tramadol from the Veterinary Clinic in Fairfield before business hours on Jan. 1.

Later, he allegedly admitted to entering the clinic on multiple occasions to steal the opioids from a medicine cabinet. Tramadol is a controlled narcotic used to treat moderate to severe pain and is highly addictive.

The clinic began an internal investigation in November after noticing shortages of the drug in its inventory. An employee allegedly saw Mills commit the Jan. 1 theft and police were informed.

The Division of Criminal Investigation and the Washington County Attorney’s Office are handling the case to avoid conflicts of interest.

Mills was booked into jail Monday.