On Friday 04/18/2014 at 4:00 pm, Springfield police officers responded
to Walgreens Pharmacy 125 Morris Avenue on a report of an individual
attempting to pass a fraudulent prescription. A pharmacist who received
a prescription for Promethazine Codeine, a narcotic cough syrup, thought
the prescription was counterfeit and verified that it was fraudulent after
contacting the doctor in Bloomfield whose name was listed on the script.

Prescriptions for cough syrup with Codeine are closely inspected by many
pharmacists as it is commonly also used illegally as a recreational drug.

Vanessa Vivor, age 24 of Irvington, was arrested by Officer Joseph Leniart
at the store. Subsequent to her arrest additional counterfeit prescriptions
were found in her possession, also made out for the narcotic cough syrup.
Vivor charged with Attempting to Obtain a Controlled Dangerous Substance
by Fraud and Possession and Uttering of Forged Instruments.

Two males who had accompanied Vivor to the store were not linked to the
attempt to obtain a narcotic by fraud but both were arrested after it was
found there were active warrants from the City of Newark for their arrest.

Quasean Fields, age 22 of Irvington, arrested by Corporal Marc McBratney
for traffic warrants issued by the Newark Municipal Court for contempt of
court. The second male, Jamar Robinson, age 18 of Newark, was wanted
for failing to appear in the Newark Municipal Court on an assault charge
and was arrested by Officer Keith Christopher.

Robinson was further charged with Hindering Apprehension and Obstruction
of a Police Investigation for his continual use of false identity information
to attempt to conceal his status as a wanted fugitive. Initially Robinson had
identified himself falsely as being "Jaquan Swint" but used different dates of
birth each time he was asked to repeat his identity information. At Springfield
police headquarters his fingerprints were checked where they matched to a
criminal arrest record having the name "Jamil Brown" and this is the name he
then admitted to being his true identity. When signing paperwork the officers
observed that he inadvertently signed his name as "Jamar Robinson". After
it was finally verified that Robinson was his true name the subject admitted
that the name "Jamil Brown" that was linked to his fingerprints was a false
name he had used when arrested and fingerprinted by the Newark Police
for a March 2014 assault charge that he had failed to appear in court on.

After bail requirements were satisfied all three were released with Vivor and
Robinson having a court appearance set in the Union County Superior Court
in Elizabeth on 04/28/2014 to answer charges signed by Springfield Police.

According to Police Chief John Cook..."the abuse of cough syrup with Codeine
is an increasing problem due to its publicized use by various music and sports
celebrities. The narcotic mixed with soda is known on the street as Sizzurp or
Purple Drank, the latter due to the color of the syrup, and the abuse of this
mixture can cause respiratory or heart failure which might result in death."

An ongoing investigation is being conducted by detectives to see if additional
fraudulent prescriptions from the same doctor have been passed and to locate
the source of the counterfeit prescription forms being used. The Newark Police
Department and the Newark Municipal Court were notified of Robinson using a
false identity when he had been arrested in March of this year.