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Pharmacy Manager Talks About Robber, Bomb Hoax

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Jul 9, 2009 7:34 pm US/Mountain

Pharmacy Manager Talks About Robber, Bomb Hoax

Written By Shaun Boyd

Reporting
Shaun Boyd
ERIE, Colo. (CBS4) ― Police across the metro area are investigating a string of armed robberies at pharmacies. The thieves have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in narcotics.

There have been two more pharmacies robbed of their narcotics in the last 24 hours. A woman robbed a Safeway pharmacy in Loveland Thursday morning. In a separate case, a man robbed a pharmacy in Brighton.

The Drug Enforcement Administration says 24 pharmacies have been robbed in the last 6 months. The latest target was Beattie's Health Mart in Erie.

Police say a man walked in last Tuesday afternoon with what appeared to be a gun and a prescription.

"I took a look at the script and it said he was serious. He has a bomb. He has a gun. Give me all your Percocet and Oxycontin. He set his bag on the counter and opened it up and he had his hand on a gun pointing at me," pharmacy manager Laurie Conklin told CBS4.

Conklin says the thief stole 4,000 pills with an estimated street value of $40,000.

Police say he may be responsible for pharmacy thefts in Thornton, Lafayette and Denver also.

"We're not sure it's the same guy, but, the (mode of operation) is the same and if it continues to happen we're concerned someone may get hurt," Lt. Lee Mathis with Erie Police said.   A mother and her two small children interrupted the robbery at Beatties.

"We had to maintain calm. If it was a bomb and it goes off we have three other lives at stake. This is not something you ever practice for in a pharmacy," Conklin said.

The bomb turned out to be a hoax, but police say the threat these drug thieves pose is real.

"I feel other pharmacies need to be aware that this is happening more and more" said Conklin. "We need to get this guy and we need to get this under control because these drugs are on the street now."

The man in the Erie robbery was described as being Hispanic, in his early 20s, with a slim build standing about 5-foot-6. He was wearing black pants with a white shirt and a dark baseball cap.

Officers released a sketch of the robber on Wednesday.

Police are asking anyone with information to call Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 222-TIPS.

(© MMX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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