{"id":421439,"date":"2026-10-07T18:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/421439\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T18:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:56:08","slug":"florida-teacher-took-coworkers-hydrocodone-then-said-she-thought-it-was-tylenol-deputies-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/421439\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Teacher Took Coworker\u2019s Hydrocodone, Then Said She Thought It Was Tylenol, Deputies Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Florida elementary school employee noticed pills disappearing from a hydrocodone prescription she kept in a backpack inside her office. After several pills went missing over roughly three weeks, she set up a camera to find out what was happening.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 5, the Old Kings Elementary School employee returned from a meeting and found that two of the four pills she had left were gone. The recording showed exceptional student education teacher Deborah Gibbens, 51, rummaging through the backpack, removing the pill container, returning it, and zipping the bag closed, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

The coworker told a school resource deputy that she had never given Gibbens permission to take the medication and did not know how Gibbens knew it was in the backpack.<\/p>\n

Gibbens initially denied going into the bag or taking anything from it. Once the deputy told her there was video, however, deputies said she admitted taking pills on multiple occasions dating back to Aug. 31 and offered an explanation: she believed she had been taking ibuprofen and Tylenol.<\/p>\n

The Backpack Wasn’t Unwatched<\/p>\n

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Gibbens did not have a prescription for hydrocodone, according to FCSO. Although the coworker chose not to pursue the theft, deputies obtained a warrant on Oct. 6 for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.<\/p>\n

The FCSO Fugitive Apprehension Unit then assisted Ormond Beach police in locating Gibbens. Volusia County booking records show she was arrested by Ormond Beach police on the Flagler County felony warrant and booked on the possession charge with a $2,500 surety or cash bond before being released.<\/p>\n

Sheriff Rick Staly said taking medicine from another employee and initially denying it represented a serious breach of the trust placed in teachers.<\/p>\n

“Teachers are trusted to set the example as they should be role models for their students,” Staly said. “Sneaking into a coworker’s backpack, stealing medicine she didn’t have a prescription for, then lying about it severely breaks that trust.”<\/p>\n

Staly added, “It’s clear she has a problem. I hope she gets the help she needs.”<\/p>\n

Flagler Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore responded by separating the allegation against one employee from the district’s broader faculty and staff.<\/p>\n

“Flagler Schools remains deeply proud of and confident in our extraordinary faculty and staff who serve our students with dedication and care every day,” Moore said. “One individual’s poor choice is in no way a reflection of the amazing employees across our district.”<\/p>\n

Moore said the district takes matters requiring investigation seriously, cooperates with the appropriate agencies, and remains focused on its students and educators.<\/p>\n

All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Florida elementary school employee noticed pills disappearing from a hydrocodone prescription she kept in a backpack inside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-421439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}