Authorities in Pueblo County said on Friday they have arrested a Colorado City man in connection with a burglary at a veterinary clinic from where morphine was stolen.
John William Bell, 37, faces charges of unlawfully obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit and second-degree burglary of a schedule I substance.
The county sheriff’s office said Bell stole morphine from a safe in the Greenhorn Valley Veterinary Clinic in Colorado City in February.
“The clinic, which had a good system in place to secure and control the morphine, reported that no damage to the building or the secured the location of the controlled substance,” the office said.
Bell, while being held in connection with an August arrest on suspicion of trying to use a fake prescription to obtain a narcotic from a southern Colorado drug store, admitted to using a veterinary clinic employee’s keys to steal the morphine earlier in the year.
Bell is being held on a total of $85,000 bond and is also accused in another case of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit being handled by Pueblo Police.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or
