Luverne man faces charges in connection with narcotics stolen from ambulance

A Luverne man is facing felony charges in connection with medications stolen from the Sanford Luverne ambulance.
According to the complaint filed in Rock County District Court Nov. 3, ambulance director Harlan VandeKieft called the Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 2 to report narcotics and syringes were missing from the ambulance.
Video camera footage showed the defendant, Jeffery William Cook, 34, of Luverne driving his SUV up to the hospital garage door on Nov. 1 at around 2:30 p.m.
He then used the door opener for the ambulance garage to open that door to gain access to the ambulance inside.
The surveillance footage shows Cook, wearing all black with a black mask, entering the ambulance and taking narcotics with the syringes that were inside the ambulance.
On the list of missing medications were Fentanyl, Ativan, Versed, Ketamine and Cardizem, all controlled substances.
VandeKieft told officers that Cook, as a former ambulance employee, would know how to access the garage door opener, but the security cameras were installed after Cook left his job with ambulance.
Though he was masked, Cook’s Ford Explorer license plate were visible on camera footage.
A search warrant at Cook’s residence on the afternoon of Nov. 2 turned up IV needle caps, syringes and other items identified as those missing from the ambulance.
Meanwhile, Cook was involved in a Sioux Falls crash with the SUV that rear-ended a semi.
In speaking with South Dakota law enforcement, Rock County officials learned that Cook had confessed to taking all the narcotics and syringes from the Sanford Luverne ambulance and that he used all the Fentynal on Nov. 1.
Cook is charged with third-degree burglary, a felony, and a fifth-degree drug charge, a gross misdemeanor.
He is currently being held in Minnehaha County Jail awaiting a hearing in Rock County.