On Monday, September 22, 2025, detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested 67-year-old Theresa Salerno at Lake Gibson High School in Lakeland after an investigation revealed she stole prescription medication belonging to a student. The investigation began on September 18, 2025, when school administrators reported a possible theft of a student’s medication. The school principal informed detectives that a student’s prescription bottle, originally containing 30 pills, had been brought in that morning by the child’s mother and counted in the presence of the school nurse. Detectives reviewed school surveillance footage and observed Salerno picking up the bottle and walking out of camera view. “This woman stole medication that was prescribed to a child.