ROCK HILL, S.C. — For the third time in three weeks, a Rock Hill pharmacy has been the victim of an attempted break-in.
The most recent one happened in a highly visible area on Cherry Road, and it was caught on tape. Police believe it could be the same man who's now hit another nearby pharmacy twice.
Surveillance video from Carolina Pharmacy shows a man in a hooded sweatshirt pulling out a hatchet and striking the drive-through window 37 times.
The man sees a car coming and momentarily hides in an alcove, then comes back and keeps beating the window. Finally, he returns a third time, and pries open the metal drive-through windows, but is unable to get inside. He walks away with the hatchet, leaving a mess behind. The whole break-in attempt lasted more than two minutes.
"It angers us. We just don't want anything like this to happen again," said the owner of Carolina Pharmacy, Vic Patel.
Patel gave Channel 9 that surveillance video, and said he was concerned because of attacks on another nearby pharmacy just last week.
"We heard about what happened at Good's, and it's very upsetting," he said.
Two weeks ago, someone carried a stepladder behind Good Pharmacy on Ebenezer Road and used it to climb into an attic window. Cameras show the man crawling into the building, then stealing bottles of painkillers and leaving the same way he came in.
A few days later, the man came back with a different stepladder and got into the attic before the alarm tripped, scaring him off.
Rock Hill police are investigating all these crimes as if they're related. They told Channel 9 they have good leads in these cases, but won't discuss further details.
Patel is concerned about the rise in crime against pharmacies. He said growing prescription drug addiction is fueling these attacks, and making it tougher to be in the drug store business.
"There's no way we can stop them, but hopefully if we can find them and put an end to it at least some of the local pharmacies will feel safer," he said.
If you have any information about either of these break-ins, call York County Crime Stoppers at 877-409-4321.