Five people, including two adults, have been arrested in connection to a break-in at the Shishmaref clinic and the theft of more than 100 painkillers—a theft Alaska State Troopers say was accomplished using tools the group stole earlier from the community school.
The theft was discovered by the Shishmaref Village Public Safety Officer just before 9 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 12.
Court documents allege 18-year-old man Ned Ahgupuk and three 15 year-old boys used a crowbar to pry open a door to the medication room, and then used the crowbar to pry open a locker containing the painkilling medication. Community health aides reported 101 tablets of Tylenol with Codeine, as well as five syringes of morphine, missing from the locker.
Investigators say the group of four first slipped the lock to the clinic with a butter knife, but found the door quickly closed behind them. In a sworn affidavit, Alaska State Trooper Tim Smith writes Ahgupuk and the three minors then went to the Shishmaref school “to find a tool to break in.”
Trooper Smith writes that Ahgupuk and two of the minors climbed through a window into the school as one of the minors and another man, 18-year-old Ryan Nayokpuk, waited outside. The three returned with a crowbar and several propane torches.
Court records say the original group of four returned to the clinic with the crowbar, as “[Nayokpuk] remained outside the school,” and smashed the window with the crowbar before breaking into the medication locker.
With the medication in tow, Trooper Smith writes the group “reunited with [Nayokpuk] … and ‘did lines’ of crushed … pills.” Smith writes the Nayokpuk took the crowbar because, “according to the other boys … he wanted to throw it away.”
Troopers responded that day and arrested the three minors, as well as Ahgupuk and Nayokpuk. Smith’s affidavit states “[Nayokpuk] and the [three] juveniles admitted to the burglaries of both the school and the clinic” and that “[Ahgupuk] returned a bag of Tylenol … pills and a single morphine syringe” which he said came from the clinic. Nayokpuk admitted to “consuming” the pills.
Troopers say two morphine syringes and “a majority” of the pills remain unaccounted for. Smith writes in his affidavit that “investigation is continuing into the whereabouts of the remaining drugs” and that the community “is concerned for their children due to the dangerous nature of Opioids.”
The minors were taken to the Nome Youth Facility and are being held on charges related to burglary, theft, and misuse of a controlled substance.
Ahgupuk faces six charges—including four felony charges of burglary, misuse of a controlled substance, and criminal mischief for property damage. He also faces two misdemeanor theft charges.
Nayokpuk faces fewer charges—three in all—including felony charges of burglary and distribution of a controlled substance. He also faces one misdemeanor theft charge.
Both men were taken to Nome’s Anvil Mountain Correctional Center and arraigned in mid-September. They’re now awaiting preliminary hearings at the end of the month.
Matthew Smith is a reporter at KNOM in Nome.
