A UPS employee was arrested by Spalding County sheriff’s deputies this week for allegedly stealing prescription pain killers that were being shipped through a UPS facility in Griffin.

Matthew Christian Lively, 23, was arrested following an investigation that began in April, Spalding Sheriff Wendell Beam said in an e-mail.

Beam said customers who had prescriptions shipped by UPS complained that they were receiving empty packages.

“The investigation revealed the medication was being removed from the packages at the UPS station in Griffin and the empty packages were shipped on to the designated recipient,” Beam said. “Examples of the missing medication are morphine, oxycodone, Percocet and hydrocodone.

Beam said Lively, who has worked for UPS for six years, was charged with 12 misdemeanor counts of theft-by-taking, 11 felony counts of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and one felony count of possession of a Schedule III controlled substance.

Lively is being held in the Spalding County Jail on $81,264 bond.

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The city of Brookhaven's mayor and City Council last week decided to remove the colored panes of glass from the dome of Brookhaven's new City Centre after residents objected to the brightness of the colors, seen here Friday, June 27, 2025. (Reed Williams/AJC)

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