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Hamilton County Jail Employee Charged with Imper

489 views · Published 29 May 2015 · 1:47 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2015 · News & Politics

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Chattanooga Police have arrested a Hamilton County Jail employee, saying he impersonated a surgeon doctor and damaged expensive equipment at three area hospitals in order to steal narcotics. 

And an affidavit obtained by NewsChannel 9 says Ryan Epperson admitted he committed the crimes to feed an addiction.

Here's what police say happened.

The affidavit says officers were notified on Monday of several controlled substances missing from Parkridge Medical Center's Special Procedure Lab, located in the radiology department.

The investigating officer says he noticed that a Pyxis medicine had been tampered with. He says someone used an object to force it open and take what was inside. The officer says he checked for fingerprints and couldn't find any. He then watched surveillance video, which showed a the back of a man entering the room at the time the crime occurred. Pharmacy staff showed the officer a log that registerd a "drawer opened unexpectedly" incident at about the time the man was seen on the video.

The missing medicines included fentanyl, meperidine, morphine sulfate, and a package of 10 syringes.

Two days later, on Wednesday, police were called to Erlanger Hospital where a Walden Security officer had detained a man wearing medical scrubs who wasn't a hospital employee, and who was in an area restricted to medical staff only.

Police arrested the man, and identified him as Ryan Epperson. The affidavit says Epperson consented to a search of him and his car. The affidavit says police found a crushed bottle of Demerol and a syringe filled with fentanyl in his pockets. The affidavit also says a search of Epperson's car trunk turned up a large bag of syringes and narcotics, including fentanyl, demerol and morphine, along with a hammer, pliers, and more medical scrubs outfits.

When asked about the Parkridge incident, the affidavit says Epperson admitted to entering an unlocked door there and taking the medication. Epperson also reportedly confessed to stealing drugs and syringes at Erlanger, and also at Memorial Hospital. The affidavit says he told officers that he took the medicine to help feed his own addiction. 

The affidavit also says Epperson told police that he was an employee at the Hamilton County Jail, and was concerned about keeping his job. 

Police are charging Epperson with theft of property, two counts of vandalism/malicious mischief, impersonation of a licensed professional, six counts of drugs general category for resale, theft of property, and criminal trespassing. 

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond tells NewsChannel 9 Epperson has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of his first hearing in court.

UPDATE: Sheriff Jim Hammond has ordered a full internal affairs investigation. After Epperson's arrest by the Chattanooga Police Department, he was immediately suspended by the sheriff.  Sheriff Hammond said 'That is our agency's policy

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