Man flees store without drugs: Bi-Lo pharmacists foil copycat robbery
A daring daylight robbery failed Wednesday afternoon when a pharmacist inside Bi-Lo slammed the door in the face of the nervous gunman, forcing him to leave empty handed.
Police suspect the would-be robber is a copycat and not the same person who robbed Super D pharmacy on the morning of Aug. 29. Super D is located about a quarter mile from Bi-Lo.
“The descriptions are a lot different so there’s a good chance this guy is a copycat,” said McMinnville Police Capt. Bryan Denton, noting the attempted heist happened at 12:09 p.m. Wednesday.
Several witnesses described the man as being in his late 20s or early 30s. He entered Bi-Lo wearing a red fishing cap, sunglasses and khaki pants. He wore a tight-fitting shirt that revealed the outline of a gun, although he never pulled the object from underneath his clothing.
“I don’t know if it was a real gun or not,” said pharmacist Celia Womack, who went over to talk to the man at the pharmacy’s side door. “He told me to give him two bottles of Oxycontin and that’s when I slammed the door. He put his hand on the gun and took a step back and I thought he was going to shoot. I got down as fast as I could and waited to hear the shot.”
Instead of shooting, the suspect walked over to the pharmacy’s main counter and tried to push aside a customer to get to the window. After a clerk on duty told the suspect he had to wait his turn in line, not realizing he was trying to rob the pharmacy, he repeated his demand for two bottles of Oxycontin.
After being told he wasn’t going to get the drug, the suspect made a mad dash out of the store, almost running over a customer in the process.
While the suspect was fleeing the store, pharmacy employees called 911 and police arrived just minutes after the attempted robbery.
It marked the second time in less than two weeks a robbery was attempted at a local pharmacy. On Aug. 29, a gunman walked into Super D and was successful in stealing around 300 pills of Percocet and Vicodin. That gunman was described as an older man.
Asked if she thought the two robberies were related, Womack said she didn’t think so.
“I’d say it’s some copycat,” said Womack. “Someone read about Super D and just figured they could walk in here, use a little intimidation, and we’d hand over drugs. Well that’s not going to happen.”
Witnesses described the man as extremely nervous, so much so, his hands were visibly shaking. He is also said to have shaggy, blonde hair.
Police conducted a sweep of the area, however, their search was fruitless.
“It’s annoying how this guy could get away with all of us right in the area,” said one officer as he searched a storm drain behind Bi-Lo.
Denton said police stopped several potential suspects immediately following the attempted robbery, but none of them panned out. On the upside, Denton noted, a couple of arrests were made during the stops for violations such as driving without a license.
While police continue working on the Bi-Lo incident, Denton said police do have a suspect in the Super D robbery.