Prosecutors deny drug-related charges against former Clark County fire captain
Prosecutors declined to pursue charges against a former Clark County fire captain once accused of stealing expired fentanyl from a fire station.
Christopher Burr, 42, was arrested Feb. 12 and booked on one count of burglary of a business and another of misconduct of a public officer.
Prosecutors announced during a court hearing Thursday that they had dropped the charges. Burr’s defense attorney, Robert Langford, said the case was “completely over.”
“The state has an ethical obligation to prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt when they actually file it,” Langford said. “After further investigation, even though an arrest was made, they determined that they could not prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. They did the ethical thing.”
Langford declined to give further details about the case.
According a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report, officers found Burr inside a crashed truck with medical vials and a bloody syringe on Dec. 24. The truck also contained five empty bottles labeled “Fentanyl Citrate,” which he tried to hide behind a landscaping retention wall after being examined by paramedics, police said in the report.
According to the report, Burr told police he was dazed when moving the vials and it was a “lapse in judgment.” Burr denied knowing anything about the bloody syringe.
Police also said Burr had access to a room containing expired and discarded medication at Fire Station 18, located near East Flamingo and Paradise roads. But Burr could only access the room to dispose of items and had no clearance to remove them.
According to the report, he was violating department “regulations, training and procedures by accessing the room to remove the narcotics for personal possession.”
Burr worked as an EMS captain for almost 18 years, police said in the report. He was suspended the day of his arrest.
Clark County said Burr no longer works for the department as of Jan. 30.
Contact Finnegan Belleau at fbelleau@reviewjournal.com.
