ICU Nurse Arrested for Allegedly Stealing Fentanyl from Patient’s IV at Florida Hospital

Leslie Ann Pope, a 54-year-old ICU nurse at Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital in Port St. Lucie, Florida, was taken into custody on Oct. 8 after police say she withdrew a syringe from a fentanyl IV infusion belonging to a critically ill patient and kept it. Surveillance footage shows her tampering with the IV’s protective caps, and she allegedly returned to the room the following night, but a family member with medical experience stopped her.

Authorities could not determine whether she obtained additional medication during the second attempt. Pope, who was not assigned to the patient, told officers an “upstream occlusion” alarm forced her to intervene, a justification the family member contested. The nurse has been charged with grand theft of a controlled substance, possession without a prescription, and fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance. Cleveland Clinic has conducted an internal probe, informed the Florida Department of Health, and said Pope is no longer employed, while the investigation remains ongoing.