Police: Thousands of painkillers stolen from pharmacy

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Tim Dunlap got a call early Thursday morning he never wanted to take. Someone had forced his way into Dunlap's new pharmacy, and stolen thousands of high-powered painkillers.

"It feels like your home, the place you work, the business you own. When somebody comes in and ransacks it, it just makes you feel violated," Dunlap said.

He opened South End Pharmacy on Albright Road in Rock Hill four months ago. Early Thursday, a man, dressed all in black, in a mask and hat, used a crowbar to pry open the front door of the business.

Dunlap showed Channel 9 surveillance video that shows the crime from beginning to end.

Once inside, you can see the man using the crowbar to slash the wires to the security system, then head for the shelves. He's caught on camera sweeping pill bottles off the shelves into a garbage can.

"These prescription products can be very dangerous in the wrong hands," Dunlap said.

He told police that the suspect took ten to 15 bottles of hydrocodone pills, containing as many as seven thousand doses. Several bottles of Xanax were also missing. On the way out, the burglar stopped to steal a soda from the cooler at the front door.

"I'm upset. I'm a little nervous because it's so close to where I work at," said Veronica Erwin who runs a laundromat next door. She was outside when Rock Hill police arrived early in the morning with tracking dogs.

She worries that the pills will end up for sale on the street.

"It's upsetting because you don't know who he's giving this to. He could be giving it to young children," she said.

The man cut the wires to the alarm system, but it sounded anyway, and police arrived in minutes.
Dunlap never expected he'd have to upgrade his security system so soon after opening. He said he now has no choice.

Rock Hill police said they have no suspects yet. They ran tracking dogs in the area Thursday morning, but did not pick up a good trail.

Officer Mark Bollinger said police want to talk to anyone who might know anything about the crime.

At the moment, they don't think it's linked to any other incidents in the city.