New Jersey man jailed for fake prescription at Saltsburg pharmacy | Police, emergency and courts
SALTSBURG — A New Jersey man is in Indiana County jail in lieu of $250,000 bond for attempting to use a fraudulent prescription at the Saltsburg pharmacy.
State Police from Troop A, Indiana, and a Saltsburg Borough police officer arrested 25-year-old William Tifa of Newark, NJ on Wednesday afternoon.
He was arraigned before Indiana Magistrate District Judge Guy B. Haberl, who has scheduled a preliminary hearing for March 30 at 10:45 a.m., for felony assault on a law enforcement officer. ; Acquiring or obtaining possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge; and the criminal use of a means of communication.
Tifa was also charged with misdemeanors of criminal attempt (resisting arrest), common assault, identity theft, and one summary count of harassment.
State Police spokesman Private Cliff Greenfield said soldiers received information March 9 about a fraudulent prescription that had been faxed the day before to the Saltsburg pharmacy.
Greenfield said the fraudulent prescription was a request for Phenergan-Codeine, Prednisone and Azithromycin.
Greenfield said Saltsburg Pharmacy staff determined the prescription was fraudulent after contacting the prescribing physician directly and learning the prescription was not authorized.
Law enforcement, including the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, was then notified.
On Wednesday, according to state police, a man, later identified as Tifa, arrived at the Saltsburg pharmacy to try to retrieve the fraudulent prescription.
Saltsburg Pharmacy staff informed the man that it would take approximately 15 minutes to fill the prescription.
The man then left and indicated that he would return.
State police say Tifa returned to the pharmacy after calling from a blocked phone number to ask if the prescription was ready to be picked up.
When he returned at around 12:18 p.m., Greenfield said, pharmacy staff members recognized him as the same person who had arrived earlier that day to pick up the fraudulent prescription.
The Saltsburg officer then confronted Tifa and attempted to take him into custody.
Greenfield said a physical altercation ensued, during which Tifa bit the officer’s arm, causing him moderate injury. The injured policeman was taken care of by the SAMU on the spot.
Troop A, members of the Indiana Patrol Unit responded to the pharmacy and helped the Saltsburg officer take Tifa into custody.
Tifa tried to escape again, Greenfield said. As the Newark, NJ man was escorted out of the pharmacy by a soldier, he broke free from the soldier’s grip and was quickly apprehended by a second soldier.
