Prescription drug thefts on the rise

HILBERT - "I look like this and yell who is it, and if they don't answer I don't unlock it," said Dennis LaPlant at his front door.

For the past few days 62-year-old Dennis LaPlant says he and his wife have been living like prisoners in their own home.

"Neither one of us is brave enough to go outside yet," said Sharon LaPlant.

"That's the first thing that comes to the door," said Dennis holding up a knife, "And its razor sharp and I ain't afraid to use it now."

That's because on Friday afternoon LaPlant says, three masked men came in, armed with baseball bats, demanding prescription drugs.

"I'm sitting here, looked up and by that time, bam I was out," said Dennis.

"And this guy puts a bat in my face and says where's your oxycodone?" said Sharon.

The couple says within minutes the masked men had scooped it all up and left, leaving Sharon scared, and her husband with 11 stitches.

Officials with the Calumet County Sheriff's Department say they're still investigating the crime and following up on leads; but the head of the Lake Winnebago Area MEG Unit which deals with drug crimes in Outagamie, Winnebago, Fond du Lac and Calumet counties says thefts of prescription medications, like what happened to the LaPlants are on the rise.

"Our drug unit has listed prescription drugs as the number two drug threat behind crack cocaine facing this area," said Brad Dunlap of the Lake Winnebago Area MEG Unit.

In 2003 drug agents seized 108 doses of prescription drugs but the most recent data from 2007 shows it increased to more than 2,000. Oxycodone being one of the most common.

"It's very similar to heroin with how it affects the body and has a very high addictive potential," said Dunlap.

But the LaPlants say it won't happen to them again. Not only is their house now a fortress but Sharon, who takes the drugs for severe pain, says she's no longer going to keep it in the house.

"Oh if they come back there will be no more oxycodone here. I'll just suffer. It's not worth it," said Sharon.

The leader of the MEG unit says people usually steal the drugs to feed their own addictions, but they can also sell the drugs. For example, oxycodone can sell for up to $80 a pill.

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Board-Certified by American Board of Pain Medicine 1997, Clinical Assistant Professor University Nevada School of Medicine.