Man Charged With Running Phony Rehab Home, Stealing From Patients
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (CBS) -- A Waukegan man is facing drug and theft charges after police say they caught him running a phony drug rehab home.
As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, Andrae Griffin, 44, claimed to be the president of an Oxford House rehabilitation home for recovering drug addicts, at 437 N. Genesee St. in Waukegan.
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But when police arrived, the exact opposite of drug rehab was happening at the house. Officers found Griffin smoking crack cocaine when they walked in with a search warrant.
After police found one gram of crack cocaine, Griffin, 44, was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance, and three counts of theft, the release said.
Police had arrest warrants out for Griffin's arrest in three different cases. The warrants said Griffin used his purported position as "house president" to take over and confiscate control the property of fellow residents, which he would take and pawn.
In another case, he used his position as president of the "Oxford House" to purchase equipment using the Oxford House line of credit, then also pawned those items.
But police found Griffin is not actually president of anything, though he led residents to believe he was.
Oxford House is a real organization with several houses around Lake County, where recovering addicts pay to get back on their feet. But the license for the Oxford House facility at the Genesee Street address was revoked in the early 2000s because it had failed to meet standards, the Lake County News-Sun reported.
Police Chief Daniel Greathouse issued a statement saying, "This is a unique case in which this suspect took advantage of the very program used to rehabilitate recovering addicts. It appears that, at least, Mr. Griffin wasn't selling drugs to the other residents of the home. However, he did steal from their rooms on more than one occasion."
Police said several of the pawned items were recovered.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
