FDLE agent loads computers as Baker County Sheriff's Office chief investigator Chuck Brannan watches.

The Baker County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, served a search warrant at Dr. Charles Scarborough’s medical clinic at 31 S. 5th St. in Macclenny the morning of September 16, hauling away nearly a dozen computers and other paper records.

Sheriff Joey Dobson said arrests resulting from the Friday morning raid would be forthcoming as the investigation progresses.

Dr. Scarborough was on a trip to Georgia when the search and seizure involving a handful of state investigators and a few more from the sheriff’s office took place.

The state recently launched its Prescription Drug Monitoring Program database that requires doctors and pharmacies dispensing certain drugs like OxyContin, Percocet, Xanax and other highly-abused medicines to report information about patients, their prescriptions and dosages to the database at least every seven days.

Doctors, pharmacies and law enforcement may also request such information from the state to combat so-called doctor shopping and the illegal diversion of prescription pills to the black market by fraudulent means.

Sheriff Dobson said he’s sure the database will prove useful to law enforcement investigating the clinic, its employees and Dr. Scarborough, but the search last week was prompted by “people sources” [see accompanying article to the right on this page].

“The database will be used more now that we have this information,” he said.

Dr. Scarborough is notable for the high volume of traffic at his downtown clinic, long-waiting times and out-of-state visitors.

“There are people out there at 5 o’clock in the morning. The other night he was still seeing patients at 2 am,” said neighboring resident Jeremy Beasley, who has lived on College Street for the last two years.

“I’ve been tolerating the loitering, loud music and even fights I’ve had to break up for far too long,” he said. “A practice like this should not be legally allowed to operate as it does. It’s a disgrace to this small community and the values so many of us stand for.”

Facebook users on The Press’ page responded to the raid with comments like, “Shut him down!” or “What took them so long?” But there were others, including a former patient of Dr. Scarborough, who praised his compassion for the sick and said patients abusing prescription drugs or selling them on the street are the problem.

“If it wasn’t for [Dr. Scarborough] I would not be well today due to panic attacks,” said Marie Hartline, a 20-year patient.

Dr. Scarborough’s office was open for business four days after the raid on September 20.