Lander woman charged with four October and November burglaries
By Joshua Scheer, reporter, county10.com
(Lander, Wyo.) – A local 24-year-old woman has been charged with burglarizing four Lander homes and taking prescription medications.
Charges against Heather Gould have been filed in Lander’s Ninth District Circuit Court. She faces four felony burglary charges, each carrying with it punishments of up to 10 years in prison and/or $10,000 in fines. Gould’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 23. She has had her initial appearance and been released on a $500 cash bond.
The addresses listed as having been broken into are on Cascade Street, Cross Street, Dabich Avenue and Dillon Drive.
The affidavit in the case was written by Lander Police Det. Sgt. Fred Cox and details a burglary that allegedly occurred on Oct. 10, 2012.
On that date, a person on Cascade called homeowner Tim Nichols to let him know that a woman walked into his house, states the affidavit.
“Tim Nichols drove to his residence at … Cascade and observed what looked to be a dirty PT or HRR Cruiser … parked in front of his house and still running,” states the affidavit.
The court document states that upon entering his home, Nichols did not hearing anything. “Tim Nichols walked upstairs towards the master bedroom, when all of the sudden a younger female exited the room and stated, ‘It’s not what it looks like,’” states the affidavit. “Tim Nichols said the female stated she was looking for her daughter’s dog and was walking by and heard a bark that sounded familiar and so she entered Tim Nichol’s residence.”
According to the affidavit, Nichols found nothing missing after the female left the home, including money that was left in the bedroom. Later, another occupant of the home discovered her Hydrocodone prescription was missing. There were allegedly about 30 pills in the bottle.
Three days later, Nichol’s allegedly identified the woman who entered his home as Gould.
Five days after the burglary, Cox interviewed Gould, who allegedly told him she had six surgeries and not all her problems were fixed. “Heather stated she has no insurance and has been in a lot of pain,” the affidavit states. She reportedly admitted to looking for pain medication inside the home.
Another burglary was reported on or about Nov. 10 on Cross Street.
“The suspect gained entry through the back door and once inside removed several bottles of pain medication from the residence,” states the affidavit. “There were other items of value in the home, however the only items missing were two bottles of Hydrocodone and one bottle of Tramadol.”
According to the court document, a third burglary occurred on Dillon Drive. It was discovered when one of the residents noticed misplaced medication in the kitchen and in a bathroom. “It appeared that no medication had been taken,” states the affidavit. Another occupant noticed that a large Crown Royal bag of change was allegedly missing. One of the occupants estimated there to be $200 to $300 in the bag, states the affidavit, though other change containers were left behind.
Gould was interviewed again on Nov. 26 by Cox, states the affidavit. Gould allegedly admitted to taking medication from the Cross Street address. She also allegedly admitted to entering the Dillon Drive address but denied taking any medication or a bag of change. Gould reportedly told Cox that she also entered a residence on Dabich Avenue the week before and took some hydrocodone.
“Heather Gould state to Detective Sergeant Fred Cox that she knows she has a problem and doesn’t want to be like this,” states the affidavit.
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her having a problem doesn't excuse felony acts. we are having more and more problems with young people and prescription medication. I say make her an example and throw the book at her!
How sad. Wonder what will happen to her children? Good way to kick the habit I suppose, to spend a few long years in prison.
You know what,there a lot of people that don't have medical insurance and have medical problems….but they would never, never….invade someone's home….the poor little children…have or will learn a horrible lesson. That their mother…one of the people that they love and respect is a thief and a drug user….I have to agree with Teri one was to kick her habit is to go to prison…probably for quit a long time….
What a sad sad story…..life is to short to spend it behind bars….and away from your children…..hopefully a lesson will be learned
And what about the victims of her crimes? Because of this, and the laws now in place to reduce perscription addiction, I had to suffer severe pain for most of a month! And those of us who have no choice since all the other options have been proven ineffective, have to suffer through a form of "withdrawal", as well as increasing severe pain. Now, almost two months after she stole my medications, I am just starting to get minimal control again.
She also stole hydrocodone and morphine from the wife. Hope she fries.
Oh she will. And you all should go with her just to make sure she is miserable enough. Paul, I don't believe the doctor wouldn't give you medication that a police report shows was stolen. So I doubt your "I was in so much pain–boo hoo". I think that you too are an addict and you are having fun throwing stones at another addict. Wow what an incredibly fulfilling life you must lead.
Carol, obviously you do not suffer from chronic severe pain. I am NOT an addict, but am "Dependent" now due to the required levels needed to keep my pain levels down. This is the 2nd time the medications that I was prescribed for pain were stolen – the first from my vehicle several years ago. It was due to that theft that I knew there were problems re-issuing scripts. This time the meds were on my bedside, and I assumed they had been knocked down and carried somewhere else in the house by one of my family's dogs. I never filed a complaint, and did not know that someone was in my house until I read it here – almost 3 weeks after the theft. Heather knew I was prescribed these meds because her step father and I had had been good friends, and I had been trying to help him with his chronic pain.
If you read the report completely, you can easily deduce she knew where to look for the narcotics she stole. She did not go "willy nilly", but rather into specific houses. Lander is not Phoenix, and it is easy to know most of the people here, especially since we do not have a lot of different physicians that treat chronic severe pain.
Unlike you have in this post, I did not "pick" on someone, rather replying to a comment that expressed more concern about her children (who I also know) than the people she hurt.
As for a fulfilling life, you again show your ignorance. Until about a year or so ago, I was volunteering in multiple organizations, helping kids and veterans every week. Then multiple masses were found in my lungs. I have tried to follow my health care team's instructions, but hate being confined to my home. I continue to go out more often then my physician likes. I also have taught myself multiple skills to make gifts for friends. And I participate in peer counseling and support for people with multiple health issues.
And, as I was reminded, most pain providers have posted "No pain medication prescriptions will be replaced for any reason including theft". This is the case here as well, and I had to sign a document (federally required) that stated that I knew and agreed to this!
I will not repeat what my wife and best friends have said when they read your reply! The best of which was that you were very hateful.
Maybe you Carol, "should go with her" and hold her hand and reassure her of what a good addict she is. Shut the hell up.