OFFICER HIT WITH DRUG CHARGE

STAUNTON -- A Charlottesville police detective and former Staunton police
officer is charged with felony prescription fraud after reportedly trying
to illegally obtain painkillers, police said.

William M. Duncan Jr., 46, of 340 Rainbow Drive, Staunton, was arrested May
12, the same day he allegedly tried to pass a bogus Demerol prescription at
the Medical Center Pharmacy on Lambert Avenue, according to a Staunton
police report.

The prescription, police said, originated from the Family Medical Center in
Fort Defiance.

Police said Duncan's prescription immediately raised suspicions. When
contacted, personnel at the Fort Defiance pharmacy indicated no such
prescription had been written, police said.

Duncan was hired by the Charlottesville Police Department in 1989 following
a six-year stint as a Staunton police officer. Currently a detective,
Duncan has been placed on paid leave and an investigation has been launched
by the Charlottesville Police Department, according to Capt. Bryant Bibb,
of the Charlottesville police.