Woman accused of stealing painkillers from senior citizen

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — A Clover woman is charged with stealing prescriptions from a 77-year-old woman she'd been caring for for a year and a half.

Jennifer Wolf, 46, faces 11 charges, including trafficking narcotics and neglect of a vulnerable adult.

Members of the York County drug enforcement unit arrested wolf Wednesday after a three-week investigation. The victim told police she became suspicious after several of her prescriptions for painkillers had disappeared.

The first two incidents happened in July, and the last time just a few weeks ago in mid-November.

"She wasn't aware the prescriptions were being taken and filled," said Lt. Mike Ligon of the drug unit. "She thought they were just misplaced or lost."

Agents said Wolf filled prescriptions at the CVS, Walmart and Bi-Lo grocery store in Lake Wylie and surveillance video recorded the incidents.

Wolf is accused of filling oxycodone and Percocet prescriptions for a total of 180 pills.

She worked for a company called Halo Caregivers in the River Hills Community of Lake Wylie. Channel 9 contacted the company, but an employee there said they would not talk about the incident.

The website for Halo Caregivers states it's a family-owned business that offers to run errands, shop, do laundry, bathe and dress clients and pick up their prescriptions. The website says caregivers are carefully screened. It also says the company was started due to personal experience after its founders struggled to take care of their own elderly mother at home.

Ligon said the victim lives with her husband who also helps care for her. He said she was not given any of the pills from the stolen prescriptions.

"When you have a case like this, it's tough, and it's sad," he said.

Wolf was released from jail Thursday on a $20,000 bond. A check of her criminal record found an embezzlement charge in Mecklenburg County in 2006.

She was sentenced to probation for that offense. She faces up to 15 years in prison if she's convicted of trafficking narcotics.

WSOC