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During a nine-month period, a Montana State Crime Lab technician is suspected of stealing drugs collected as evidence by law enforcement agencies from across the state.

Steve Brester is suspected of stealing prescription medications from lab evidence between September 2014 to June 2015. He was fired from the lab in June.

The thefts forced prosecutors from around the state to drop drug charges in multiple cases, including two drug charges against Nicholas Ellis Allison, a Billings man who punched a police officer while being arrested.

During Allison’s trial in Billings this week, Montana State Crime Lab Administrator Phil Kinsey testified about the ongoing investigation into the crime lab being conducted by the state’s Division of Criminal Investigators.

Allison was arrested last year at a Billings casino after customers reported he was behaving suspiciously. While he was being frisked, Allison was found to have a gun. He hit the officer in the head and tried to run away.