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PLEASANT GROVE — Police on Sunday arrested a part-time firefighter accused of breaking into the Pleasant Grove fire station and stealing drugs.
Brenden Ivie, 21, of Pleasant Grove, was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of drug possession, theft and burglary.
Ivie is a part-time firefighter for the Unified Fire Authority and has interned for several agencies in Utah County, including the Pleasant Grove Fire Department, said Pleasant Grove Police Lt. Britt Smith.
On four prior occasions — June 10, July 26, Aug. 4 and Aug. 5 — investigators suspect that Ivie broke into the Pleasant Grove Fire Department, got into the ambulance and took boxes that contain narcotics for medical use, such as fentanyl, diazapam, ketamine, morphine, and midazolam. The fire station is occupied around the clock. Smith said detectives believe Ivie broke in typically between 2 a.m and 4 a.m.
On Sunday, firefighters set up special surveillance of the fire station due to the previous break-ins, Smith said. About 2 a.m., they watched Ivie drive up to the station to attempt to burglarize the department a fifth time, and the third time in three days, according to a police affidavit filed in 4th District Court. Ivie was caught after attempting to enter through a window he had broken the night before, Smith said.
When he was arrested, Ivie had an IV catheter port line already fixed on his arm and inserted into a vein, according to the lieutenant.
Detectives served search warrants on Ivie's car and house after arresting him and found all of the items missing from the prior burglaries, he said.
"A large amount of empty and full or partially full vials of medication were discovered in Ivie's car and residence," the affidavit states.
Investigators were also looking into whether Ivie was possibly getting drugs from anywhere else.
"We think that he was also an employee at a hospital and we think that he was stealing from the trash," Smith said.
The hospital is in Salt Lake County but the lieutenant did not offer any other details pending the outcome of the investigation.
Unified Fire Authority released a prepared statement Monday saying Ivie has been with the department since January, but "has since been removed from all future work schedules" in light of his arrest.
The agency also noted that none of the drugs off its ambulances were missing.
As of Monday afternoon, no charges have been filed against Ivie.
