Michigan Chief Accused of Stealing Painkillers from Collection Box and Selling Them

A West Michigan police chief is accused of stealing and selling painkillers from a police collection box designed to take drugs off the streets, according to unsealed court documents.

Two dozen Hydrocodone pills that went missing from the Hartford Police Department drug collection box were cited as evidence in a search warrant used in the ongoing criminal probe of Tressa Beltran, Hartford Police chief.

WWMT reports that an investigation began when Van Buren County Sheriff's Office Narcotics unit received an anonymous tip of possible narcotics use and sales at the Hartford Police Department involving Chief Tressa Beltran, according to the affidavit for a search warrant.

"My client right now is anxiously awaiting results of investigation and maintains her innocence," said Beltran's defense attorney Don Soppanos.

Beltran has been on paid administrative leave from the department since the June 30 search.