Pharmacy Robbed Twice In Four Days

Shattered glass, no power, and a screaming burglar alarm greeted the owner and workers at a Rock Hill pharmacy for the second time in four days.

"I was just shocked. It's unbelievable." said pharmacist Marvin Hyatt. Eyewitness News spoke with the 76-year-old after yet another break in early Monday morning.

Thursday, someone pried open the outside circuit breaker box behind the pharmacy on Ebenezer Road. They cut the power, smashed the glass in the front door, took money from the register and dozens of bottles of painkillers.

Monday morning, the crime was nearly a carbon copy of the first. By late morning, a repairman was working to replace the door for the second time.

"It's very disturbing. We couldn't imagine anything happening again," Hyatt said. On Thursday, the thieves took 32 bottles of pills, including oxycodone, morphine and Ritalin. For some reason, they took only the Watson brand of painkillers, and left others untouched.

During that break-in, the store's security cameras were not working. However, on Monday morning they were, and captured pictures of a truck pulling up in the parking lot around 2 a.m. as well as images of two young white males forcing their way inside.

Rock Hill police plan to clear up and enhance that video on Tuesday before releasing it to Eyewitness News.

During the second break-in, they took more morphine and oxycodone.

Barbara Reid has been a Good's Pharmacy customer for as long as she can remember. "It just hurt. It hurt my heart to see this happen," she said. "These people are like family to me. They have wonderful attitudes."

In business since 1963, Marvin Hyatt can't remember the last time the little store was a victim of crime. Now it's happened twice in four days. "It's very stressful, because we have to suspect a lot of people, and not really know who it is.," he said.

Hyatt said looking at the security camera video made him confident that the burglars are not regular customers. Still, in case they decide to return a third time, he's installing a heavy duty metal door, and upgrading other security measures as well.

Last week, after the break-in in Rock Hill, 1,500 pharmacies and doctor's offices across the state were notified by fax about the stolen painkillers.

The state pharmacy association sends out such Rx alerts so other businesses can be on the alert for similar crimes.

It also encourages pharmacists to pay attention to someone who comes in asking questions about what brands of painkillers they carry, and how much.