_ 3824 Ringgold Rd.: Police were dispatched to Kingwood Pharmacy Friday in reference to a person attempting to obtain prescription drugs. According to an affidavit of complaint, officers spoke with a pharmacy technician who said that the pharmacy had received a phone call earlier from a person claiming to be a Dr. Smith from Siskin Medical Center. The caller presented all the correct identification numbers and ordered a prescription of Tramadol and Xanax for a patient named Matthew Manning. The report states that pharmacy employees got suspicious and contacted the doctor’s office at Siskin. They discovered that other area pharmacies had received the same call from the same doctor. The doctor was legitimate, but his staff told police that he had not made the phone calls requesting the prescriptions.
The report states that when the person showed up to obtain the prescription, pharmacy staff collected as much information as they could about the person and called police. The subject was described as a white male, more than 6-feet tall, about 40 years old, wearing a white ball cap, checkered button up shirt and had a severe scrape on his nose. The report states that the subject had left the pharmacy before police arrived. After the initial report was taken, the subject returned to the pharmacy and employees called police.
The report states that when police arrived, they saw the subject leave the pharmacy, get into a Chevy Tahoe that left traveling west on Ringgold Road. An officer stopped the vehicle and made contact with the driver. A white male in the passenger’s seat matched the description of the person attempting to obtain the prescription, the report states. Officers questioned the passenger, who told them his name was Matthew Manning, and gave conflicting information regarding social security numbers and date of birth. The report states that a few minutes later the man told officers his real name was Michael Caputo, born in July of 1976.
According to the report, when Caputo got out of the vehicle, the officer saw a paper ID on the side of the seat. During a frisk of the passenger’s area, officers located a series of fake drivers licenses from Tennessee and Georgia, including a discarded Tennessee DL for a Matthew Manning, the report states. The officer also found a white cap and a sheet of paper with medical professional ID numbers. Caputo was arrested and charged with Prescription Drug Fraud, Criminal Impersonation and Impersonation of a Licensed Professional. Caputo is scheduled to appear in East Ridge Municipal Court on Nov. 3.
_ Police have charged a Chattanooga woman with Criminal Conspiracy, related to an incident this summer at the 4As Inn. According to an affidavit of complaint, police were sent to the motel on Ringgold Road on August 19 on a report of a robbery. The report states that officers spoke with the victim who told them that he was robbed in a second floor room. The victim told officers that he went to the hotel early in the morning to bring breakfast to his friend and a female, Rebecca Nicole Townsend Bethune, who was staying there. The report states that the victim went to the front desk to ask what room his friend was in. The clerk called the room and Bethune came down to show the victim up to the room, the report states. When she took the victim to the room, he found only Bethune and another male subject inside. The victim claims that his friend and another man jumped him from behind, and during the struggle stole his money and a smart phone. The report states that after the man was robbed, the men gave the wallet to Bethune who gave it back to the victim telling him she was sorry. The men fled into the hotel complex and later were joined by Bethune and took off in a small extended cab S-10 style pickup truck, the report states. Bethune was charged with Criminal Conspiracy and is due to appear in court on Oct. 28.
