{"id":73570,"date":"2026-11-15T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-15T19:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=73570"},"modified":"2026-11-15T09:51:04","modified_gmt":"2026-11-15T15:51:04","slug":"bemidji-man-accused-of-stealing-mothers-morphine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-accused-of-stealing-mothers-morphine\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Accused of Stealing Mother’s Morphine"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEMIDJI, MN<\/strong> \u2013 (trfnews.i234.me)<\/a> \u2013 A 21-year-old Bemidji man faces a felony theft charge after allegedly stealing his mother’s prescription morphine.<\/p>\n

Elston Lane Black, 21, of Bemidji<\/strong>, is accused of repeatedly taking medication his mother needed for a serious breathing condition.<\/p>\n

According to a Beltrami County criminal complaint, Black allegedly admitted breaking into a locked medication box to obtain the morphine.<\/p>\n

The case involves a vulnerable adult who depends on the medication to relieve severe breathing distress.<\/p>\n

Investigation Begins Over Missing Prescription Medication<\/h2>\n

According to court documents, the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office investigated a report involving possible financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.<\/p>\n

Investigators reviewed medical information provided by the alleged victim’s doctor.<\/p>\n

The doctor reported that the woman suffers from severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, commonly known as COPD.<\/p>\n

Her condition requires supplemental oxygen and severely limits her ability to walk.<\/p>\n

The doctor prescribed Roxanol, a concentrated liquid morphine medication, to relieve severe breathing distress known as air hunger.<\/p>\n

The complaint states the woman began noticing unusual reductions in her medication supply around March 2026.<\/p>\n

She suspected her son, Black, was taking the medication without permission.<\/p>\n

After confronting him, she reportedly secured the medication inside a locked box.<\/p>\n

\"Elston<\/a>
Elston Lane Black<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prescription Refills Raise Concerns<\/h2>\n

On October 22, 2026, the woman contacted her doctor requesting another morphine refill.<\/p>\n

The doctor noticed that her prescription had been filled only nine days earlier.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, the woman reported using approximately two or three doses daily.<\/p>\n

At that rate, the doctor believed the prescription should have lasted approximately 40 days.<\/p>\n

However, the previous three prescriptions reportedly required refills after approximately two weeks.<\/p>\n

The woman told medical staff she believed Black had found a way to open the locked medication box.<\/p>\n

Concerned about the missing medication, the doctor declined another refill until she obtained a new lockbox.<\/p>\n

Suspect Allegedly Admits Breaking Into Lockbox<\/h2>\n

On November 9, 2026, a Beltrami County investigator visited the woman’s residence.<\/p>\n

The investigator spoke privately with Black and explained that he was not required to answer questions.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Black acknowledged knowing why law enforcement had arrived.<\/p>\n

He then allegedly admitted taking his mother’s morphine.<\/p>\n

Black reportedly told investigators that the medication helped him sleep.<\/p>\n

He also allegedly admitted breaking into the lockbox to obtain the prescription medication.<\/p>\n

Investigators reported that Black understood his mother needed morphine to ease her breathing difficulties.<\/p>\n

He also reportedly acknowledged that taking the medication prevented her from receiving the relief she needed.<\/p>\n

Felony Theft Charge Carries Up to 10 Years<\/h2>\n

Following the interview, investigators arrested Black and transported him to the Beltrami County Jail.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors charged him with felony theft under Minnesota Statute 609.52<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Morphine is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance.<\/p>\n

The charge carries a maximum possible penalty of 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine, or both<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The complaint identifies the alleged offense period as March 1 through November 4, 2026.<\/p>\n

The case is filed in Beltrami County District Court under 04-CR-26-2821<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Additional court information is available through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All allegations are based on the criminal complaint. Black is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elston Lane Black, 21, of Bemidji faces felony theft charges after allegedly admitting he broke into his mother’s lockbox to take prescribed morphine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[1212,1224,11029,32569,1051],"trf_mt_town":[29430],"trf_mt_county":[29512],"trf_mt_topic":[29493],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-73570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-beltrami-county","tag-bemidji","tag-drug-charges","tag-elston-lane-black","tag-theft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73570"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73573,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73570\/revisions\/73573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73570"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=73570"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=73570"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=73570"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=73570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}