Manager charged with stealing drugs

Monroe - The manager of Eckerds Drug Store on Lakes Road in Monroe was charged earlier this week with stealing cash, Hydrocodone, Valium and Viagara from the pharmacy. According to Village of Monroe police, the incident unfolded at 2:30 a.m. Monday morning, Dec. 19, when an officer on patrol saw a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder parked in ShopRite Plaza with a person sitting in the driver’s seat. No businesses were open at the time. The officer stopped the vehicle as it was leaving the area, and then noticed the odor of marijuana while speaking with the driver, Damien T. Gavin, 27. Police said Gavin was removed from the SUV, which was then searched. Police said they found the following: about one-eighth of an ounce of marijuana; half an ounce of mushrooms, which are hallucinogenics and were packaged for sale in eighth-ounce containers; two 100-capsule bottles of Hydrocodone, a controlled substance; two scales - one digital, the other manual; seven bottles of Marcaine single-dose bottles (Marcaine is a pain blocker/anesthesia which is injected into the body and usually only used in a hospital setting for surgery); a small quantity of Valium and Viagara; and $1,600 in cash. Gavin was arrested at the scene and the vehicle was impounded back to police headquarters. Officers who interviewed Gavin after his arrest discovered that he was the manager at Eckerds on Lakes Road in Monroe and that the Hydrocodone, Valium, and Viagara were stolen from that pharmacy the week before. Monroe Police also said they discovered that Gavin was stealing cash from the business. According to police, Gavin would take merchandise off of the shelf, and by using his position as the store manager, would act as if a customer had returned it and keep the cash. Police said he took about $1,000 in the last few weeks alone. Gavin, who lives in the Ulster County hamlet of Wallkill and worked for Eckerds for two years, was charged with the following: two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony; one count of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and second-degree criminal possession of drug paraphernalia and five counts of petty larceny, all misdemeanors. Gavin was sent to Orange County Jail on $10,000 cash bail.