Hospital staff reports finding cigarettes, meth with patient

Published 3:03 pm Thursday, September 15, 2016

THOMASVILLE — Tobacco use at Archbold Memorial Hospital is forbidden, not to mention methamphetamine.

A patient, Steven A. Brown, was caught smoking cigarettes in his hospital room, a Thomasville Police Department incident report indicates.

A hospital employee was sent to Brown’s room to collect the cigarettes. The employee reportedly found not only cigarettes in Brown’s pants pocket, but also a small bag containing a crystalline powder substance.

The nursing staff did not alert the patient about their find, but instead contacted hospital security, who called police.

A police field test was positive for methamphetamine, and the Thomas County/Thomasville Narcotics/Vice Division was notified.

A narcotics investigator took custody of the methamphetamine and told the nursing staff to call police when Brown was released from Archbold. The suspect would be arrested and transported to the Thomas County Jail, the officer told personnel.

“When he was released from the hospital, he was interviewed at the drug squad,” Louis Schofill, narcotics/vice commander, said.

Brown, 44, 465 Ellen St., Ochlocknee, is charged with methamphetamine possession.

“He said he forgot it was in his pants,” Schofill said.