Police arrested a Conway woman Saturday after a Conway Police Department investigation into a series of car accidents she caused on June 6 led to drug charges filed Wednesday.
Jennifer Marie Spaeth, 33, claimed a local pharmacy had erroneously given her the prescription sleep aid Ambien after being arrested on suspicion of DWI after crashing into six cars while driving away from an Oak Street restaurant, according to a police report of the incident.
Deputy Faulkner County prosecuting attorney Charles Finkenbinder said Saturday afternoon that it could well be the case that the accident was caused by errantly prescribed Ambien, but the CPD investigation into the accident revealed evidence indicating that Spaeth had illegally obtained other prescription drugs.
"Their investigation revealed that she had been obtaining prescriptions for narcotic pain relievers and having them filled at several different pharmacies in Faulkner County," Finkenbinder said.
"At this point I don't want to leave any impression that the two instances were linked," he continued. "Even if the prescription medication did not lead to the incident on Oak Street, the fraudulently obtaining prescription drug charges would still go forward; they're still solid cases."
Spaeth, who was due a City of Conway District Court DWI trial this month according to Finkenbinder, now faces four counts of felony prescription drug fraud, one count of felony criminal mischief and one count of misdemeanor DWI.
"The police really did a thorough investigation into this," Finkenbinder said. "They had a hunch and it seems to have been confirmed after some pretty exhaustive investigative work. They made a thorough investigation into her medical records before ever contacting us."
A State Crime Lab toxicology report released in August shows that a blood sample taken after the accidents contained traces of painkillers Hydrocodone and Zolpidem as well as Tramadol, the active ingredient in Ambien.
"There are two things in a fraudulent prescription drug case that violate the law under its plain words," Finkenbinder said. "No. 1 is obtaining more pain medication than what one would consider a safe dose. This particular medication was supposed to be taken four times a day and the number of pills that she was obtaining, according to the investigation, was far in excess than that. The second thing is going to multiple providers, as this is an indication that one is trying to obtain more medication than is prescribed."
"This arrest is pursuant to Officer (Ryan) Brittons investigation of the original seven-vehicle accident. He served prosecutor subpoenas on several area pharmacies and the end result of the investigation resulted in the prosecuting attorneys office filing the felony charges," Lt. Danny Moody said in a news release.
(Staff writer Joe Lamb can be reached by e-mail at joe.lamb@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1238. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
