What to Know
- A Hagerstown police officer is accused of stealing prescribed prescription painkillers from a paralyzed woman.
- The officer is accused of trying to give the woman "hush money."
- The officer was suspended without pay and criminally charged.
A 14-year veteran of the Hagerstown, Maryland police was charged with drug distribution after a paralyzed woman accused him of stealing her powerful prescription painkillers.
Sgt. Christopher Michael Barnett is charged with distribution and possession of prescription controlled dangerous substances. He has been suspended from his job without pay, Hagerstown police announced Friday.
Barnett allegedly went to the home of a woman who was prescribed Oxycodone after a car crash caused a brain injury and left her paralyzed.
The woman says Barnett handled two of her medicine bottles. Once he left, the woman noticed three white and orange, oblong Oxycodone pills were missing, charging documents say.
The woman called police to report the missing pills, but the on-duty sergeant hung up on her, according to police documents.
Minutes after the phone call, Barnett came to the woman’s home again, charging documents say. The woman’s caretaker filmed some of the encounter on a tablet.
According to police, Barnett asked the woman: “What could we do to make this right?”
Barnett gave the woman several pink pills that looked different from the ones she had reported missing, police documents say. He also handed the woman cash, which the woman’s mother described to police as “hush money,” according to court documents.
The woman sent video of the encounter to a former colleague who works with Gaithersburg police. Police say the video evidence and witness testimony led to Barnett being charged.
"I cannot and will not make any excuses for this betrayal of our agency, badge, and community," says Chief Victor Brito. "I'm personally deeply disappointed and quite frankly sickened by this criminal act. That said, I know in my heart that the men and women I serve with at the Hagerstown Police Department perform their duties with integrity and selfless dedication every day."
Barnett joined the department in 2002 and was promoted to sergeant in 2012, police said.
