Springdale pet clinic employee accused of stealing drugs, money, gift cards faces felony charges

State narcotics agents accused an employee at a veterinary clinic in Springdale of stealing drugs, cash and gift cards from the company and her co-workers.

Heidi E. Schumacher, 42, of Orchard Street in Shaler was charged with seven counts of prohibited acts and a count of forgery, which are all felonies, along with misdemeanor counts of theft and identity theft.

She was released on a nonmonetary bond and ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing May 22 before District Judge David Sosovicka.

In late January, Springdale police requested help from the state Attorney General’s Office with its investigation of possible thefts from the River Valley Veterinary Hospital on Pittsburgh Street, according to a criminal complaint.

The borough’s police chief told agents they were contacted by the hospital’s owners after Schumacher was suspected of taking gift cards from other employees and stealing cash from the register and bank deposits, the complaint said.

Springdale police said Schumacher admitted during questioning that she stole the gift cards from the purses and lockers of other employees as well as cash from the register.

The hospital’s owners performed an audit of their pharmacy after discovering controlled substances were missing. Among the missing drugs were entire bottles of the prescription pain reliever tramadol, investigators said.

Video surveillance from the hospital showed Schumacher printing out labels for prescription drugs and then entering the locked pharmacy area after hours, the complaint said.

Authorities noted Schumacher was authorized to use a fingerprint reader to access the pharmacy’s drug dispenser, and records from the device showed it being opened during times when she is seen on video entering the room.

Agents said they also were able to access a database that showed the prescriptions for her seven pets Schumacher had filled at a pharmacy in Oakmont that were authorized by a doctor at the clinic.

Among them was a dog named Roxy that was being treated for coughing with the narcotic hydrocodone.

The doctor told investigators Schumacher typically wrote out the prescriptions for medication her pets needed and then presented them to her for review and a signature.

Investigators said Schumacher got a prescription from the doctor that way on June 11, 2021, but failed to tell her the dog died nearly a month before.

When agents questioned Schumacher, she told them she was stealing tramadol and alprazolam to give to a relative because the woman’s prescriptions were running out before they were scheduled to be refilled, the complaint said.

She told investigators she stole the hydrocodone at the request of a friend.

In at least one instance, the doctor confirmed to authorities that a signature on one of the prescriptions Schumacher used to get drugs had been forged.

The hospital’s business manager told agents that $250 worth of Sheetz gift cards were stolen from the hospital, and surveillance video showed Schumacher redeeming them at stores in Shaler and Cheswick.

Investigators said they were able to determine that some of the Sheetz cards Schumacher used were ones reported stolen by other workers at the hospital.

Hospital officials said they suspected Schumacher was stealing some of the money from a petty cash box because she and one of the co-owners were the only people who knew where the key to the box was hidden.

She is accused of stealing more than $1,190 in petty cash, the complaint said.

Schumacher also had access to a drawer where cash slated to be deposited in the bank was kept, agents said. An audit showed the deposits made were short by a little more than $1,100.

An inventory of the pharmacy found that $1,676 worth of drugs were missing, including the sedative alprazolam and the pain relievers hydrocodone, hydromorphone, phenobarbital, torbugesic and tramadol, investigators said.

Surveillance video from the hospital pharmacy shows Schumacher placing various medications in small pill bottles as well as hiding syringes in her purse, the complaint said.

Schumacher was questioned by state agents April 24 and admitted to stealing the drugs, cash and gift cards, according to authorities.