Nurse Charged With Stealing Meds From St. Cloud Hospital

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 42-year-old Kimball nurse has been charged with fraudulently acquiring a controlled substance from a span of over a year, according to the United States Attorney's Office.

From November 2010 to March 8, 2011, Daniel Zenner allegedly acquired Dilaudid, or hydromorphone hydrochloride, for his own use and benefit while being employed at a St. Cloud hospital.

Authorities say that Zenner accessed the lockboxes where the Dilaudid was stored and used syringes to remove it from intravenous bags, intended for hospital patients. Zenner, on some occasions, injected bags with saline solution to replace the missing Dilaudid before returning the bags to lockboxes for patient use.

If convicted, Zenner faces a potential maximum sentence of four years in prison.