Ohio woman accused of posing as registered nurse, physical therapist
An Ohio woman has been accused of posing as a registered nurse and a physical therapist despite, officials say, not being licensed to practice either profession.
Amanda Maynard Murphy, 36, from Sandusky, was arrested in Tennessee on Monday and transferred to Erie County, Ohio, where she was being held, according to ABC Cleveland affiliate WEWS.
Perkins Township Police Detective Joseph Rotuno told WEWS that Murphy allegedly worked at Parkvue and NOMS Healthcare, both in Perkins Township in north-central Ohio.
Rotuno said Murphy passed required background checks for both jobs by using the physical therapy license number of a woman also named Amanda Maynard and the Social Security number of a separate North Carolina woman.
"It's kind of scary to me that she was able to do this as an RN (registered nurse) for quite a while," Rotuno told WEWS.
Rotuno said that Murphy started receiving complaints about her work as a physical therapist in December 2023 because some of the techniques she was employing "did not seem proper," according to WEWS.
"As an RN being around medications, controlled substances, and then a physical therapist being around patients and patient records, this should not have been able to happen" Rotuno told the station.
Authorities executing a search warrant allegedly found items, including badges, that linked Murphy to other healthcare and nursing facilities, WEWS reported.
Murphy was indicted in Ohio on several felony charges in January 2025, including identity fraud, grand theft and possessing criminal tools, but fled the state before authorities could serve the indictment, according to WEWS. Over the past year, investigators determined she had been hiding out in Tennessee.
"This should have never happened," Rotuno told WEWS. "There should have been no way this person should have been able to get a job at any of these facilities."
Murphy is currently scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 1, according to WEWS.
Perkins Township Police did not immediately return an ABC News request for comment.
