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Nurse charged in wrong-way crash could soon head to rehab

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The nurse accused of crashing on the wrong side of the road while under a powerful sedative will spend weeks in rehab as part of a bond agreement.

Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh was in a Gwinnett County courtroom where Beverly Wilkins, 37, faced a judge Thursday. Last month, she was charged in a wrong-way crash on Highway 316 that left five people hospitalized.

Wilkins faces a slew of charges, including DUI, hit-and-run and theft. Police said they found an IV bag, a needle and multiple vials of the drug Propofol, a sedative commonly used as anesthesia, in her car. She stole 12 vials of the drug and injected two of them before getting behind the wheel, according to a Lawrenceville police report.

Wilkins worked as a nurse for Gwinnett Anesthesia Services, the service used at Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville. She had just left the center before the crash.

Police also suspect Wilkins in a hit-and-run crash that took place days before the incident on Highway 316.

Wilkins will soon bond out of jail to enter a 12-week rehab program at the Talbott-Marsh recovery center in Atlanta. She will be required to surrender her passport and submit to unscheduled drug and alcohol testing by the state.

Upon completion of the rehab program, Wilkins will be under house arrest until the case is adjudicated.

Prosecutors wanted Wilkins to be denied bond, but the judge set her bond at $100,000. If she violates any conditions of the bond agreement, her mother will lose her home in Virginia.

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