A Polk County Sheriff's deputy was arrested Friday for taking and stealing hydrocodone pills while on patrol.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Joshua Music, 31, responded to a residence on Pasteur Road in Bartow on March 23 in response to a disturbance.
While at the home, Music found hydrocodone pills in the home, according to an arrest report. Music contacted the resident of the home again on April 12 and 13 in reference to "counting" the pills, the report stated.
The resident noticed pills missing from their container and contacted the Polk Co. Sheriff's Office. When detectives confronted the deputy, he confessed to consuming pills he took from the home.
In a separate incident, Music told detectives that on April 19, he responded to a call in response to alleged underage drinking where he met an unidentified male who "wanted to get rid" of hydrocodone pills. Music took the pills and placed them in his personal cigarette box, he told detectives.
Detectives found 20 pills in the box.
Music admitted to detectives he had "a problem with hydrocodone" and to taking the pills.
Music stated he'd become addicted to hydrocodone after being prescribed the drug for pain.
He was hired as a deputy by the Polk Co. Sheriff's Office in April 2007. He resigned his position as a deputy in light of the investigation into the pill thefts.
He was arrested without incident and and charged with trafficking in hydrocodone and three counts of delivery of a controlled substance. He was booked into the Polk County Jail.
"The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has a zero tolerance for criminal activity," the report stated.