Crime Corner

COPS: Counselor arrested for stealing co-worker’s pills

A counselor with a local mental health care group was arrested last week after she allegedly opened a prescription bottle belonging to one of her co-workers and removed some of his pills.

According to a declaration of arrest in the case, A Nye County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched Feb. 20 to meet with several doctors for a report of a suspicious circumstance.

The doctors told the officer they had recently hired a new counselor, Delours Scott, 55. Since her hire they said they had seen the woman on surveillance video going through numerous rooms in the building, some of which they said were restricted to her, rifling through cabinets and shelves, allegedly taking numerous sample medications and folders. One of the doctors said they thought the folders may have been patient files.

After taking the report, the same deputy was called back to the practice the following day after two of the doctors said they had allegedly discovered further misconduct by their new employee.

According to an arrest report, the doctors said as they reviewed more footage from their office, they saw on Feb. 16 Scott had entered their records room and picked up a prescription bottle belonging to another employee. They told the officer they then witnessed Scott spill some of the pills from the bottle onto a counter and take a handful of them with her when she left the room.

The doctors then showed the footage to the deputy.

Later that evening police were able to make contact with Scott at her home. She allegedly said she wasn’t restricted from any room in the office and that she had not taken any of the sample medications, clarifying that she took brochures off of some of the shelves where the sample medication was located.

Scott also allegedly told police she had only taken her co-worker’s pills out of the bottle to verify what they were because she said it appeared there were several different kinds of pills in the bottle. She added that once she had verified what they were she then placed them back in the bottle.

According to her arrest report, a deputy was unable to find any footage of her putting the pills back in the bottle.

Scott was subsequently placed under arrest for burglary and petit larceny and transported to the Nye County Detention Center to be booked into custody.

COURTS: Woman could face life in prison for heroin trafficking

A woman arrested in November with more than 100 grams of heroin allegedly in her possession pleaded guilty to a single charge of high-level trafficking of a controlled substance this week in District Court. The charge carries with it an incarceration term of anywhere from 10 years to life in prison.

Dorothea Chute, 45, pleaded guilty to the single charge Monday morning as part of a plea agreement.

She was taken into custody on Nov. 11 after narcotics officers allegedly caught her selling 56 grams of heroin to a man in the Smith’s parking lot.

When they searched her purse, they allegedly found an additional 57.8 grams of heroin along with methamphetamine and prescription pills.

In exchange for her plea of guilty, 10 other charges stemming from the same incident will not be pursued.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Kirk Vitto said he would be asking the court to sentence Chute to 10 years to life in prison at the time of sentencing. He added that he may also be asking, if sentencing posture allows, for a $500,000 fine as well.

Chute is scheduled to return to court on May 5 for sentencing.