EMPORIA, Va. -- An Emporia doctor respected by the community turned himself in, lost his license and now faces four felony charges.
Dr. Herman Alphia Garrett III is accused of taking narcotics form a local hospital. Officials said it isn't his first offense, he's been in trouble in other states.
Emporia Commonwealth Attorney Patricia Watson says it all began when officials at the Southern Virginia Regional Medical Center became suspicious of Dr. Garrett. They started an internal investigation to see "Whether he was in possession of narcotics he should not be in possession of."
From there, Emporia Police were called in to begin their own investigation.
"When he left the hospital, it's our indication that he took a box -- it's called a surgical box -- with him and in that surgical box, contained several different narcotic medications," Watson says.
Dr. Garrett turned himself into Emporia Police and now faces four felony charges and two misdemeanors.
"He has three Felony Possession of Scheduled I and II Charges, he has one Procurement of Drug Felony Charge and several misdemeanors," explained Watson.
He is currently out on bond, and his first court appearance is October 10.
"I can't believe it, because of how nice he was" says Threasa Moore, from along Main Street in Emporia.
Moore had taken her mother to Dr. Garrett on several occasions, and like many had recently heard rumors he wasn't at the hospital.
"He was really a nice nice man, I had no problems with him," she says. "He explained everything, all the procedures he was going to do and everything."
This isn't the first, or second time, that Dr. Garrett has lost his license.
In 1991, he was placed on medical leave due to chemical dependency, while a resident at Georgetown.
In 1992, Dr. Garrett was convicted of DUI in Georgia.
In 2001 he lost his license to practice medicine in Kentucky.
He later lost his license to practice here in Virginia.
But that was reinstated in 2005, court documents also show.
