Police arrested a Lodi dentist Wednesday and
were searching for her boyfriend after investigators found
methamphetamine at her Fairmont Avenue dental office, Lodi police said.
Lavonne
"Vonnie" Sawyer, 49, was arrested at her office after a monthlong
investigation. Police want to find her boyfriend, Donald Lewis, 41.
On
May 5, police visited the office, at 828 S. Fairmont Ave., because
Lewis was there and had five outstanding warrants, Officer Dale Eubanks
said.
When officers
arrived, Lewis fled. Officers noticed liquor in the office, and staff
members told investigators that Lewis would rifle through patients'
medical records despite instructions not to, Eubanks said.
Following
the visit last month, police contacted the state Dental Board, which
opened an investigation and discovered Sawyer had dispensed about 1,000
prescriptions for medication such as Vicodin in one year. Thirty-nine
of those prescriptions, investigators said, were for her boyfriend.
When investigators visited the practice, they found suspected methamphetamine hidden in a patient's medical file, Eubanks said.
Sawyer
was booked on suspicion of meth possession. The Dental Board is still
looking into her practice and could take further action, including
revoking her license, officials said.
Lewis
has outstanding warrants for charges including child abuse, battery on
a spouse or cohabitant, grand theft and violating a domestic violence
court order.