Man Connected With Three Pharmacy Robberies Apprehended
Posted on January 5, 2010Austin area pharmacies have been under attack lately, but the constant threat of robbery may be eliminated with the arrest of Daniel Gerding. The Statesman reported that Gerding has been accused of robbing three Austin pharmacies earlier this month in an effort to support his addiction to painkillers.
Gerding was taken into custody at his home, according to an Austin Police Department spokesman, and is now in the Travis County Jail. He later admitted to all three robbers and was charged with a second-degree felony – robbery by threat.
Court documents note that Gerding robbed pharmacies HEB, Walgreens and CVS in Northeast Austin, near his home. Considered a winning method, Gerding entered each store wearing a hoodie sweatshirt and knit beanie cap before approaching the pharmacies with a type-written note demanding Oxycontin or hydrocodone.
The demand note also made mention of a gun in possession and in at least one instance, he threatened to shoot someone. Documents do not state whether or not Gerding actually carried a gun in any of the robberies.
On December 7, Gerding robbed the Walgreens pharmacy on Tech Ridge Boulevard before making his getaway on a mountain bike. A store employee followed him to a nearby condominium complex. When police arrived and investigated the complex, a truck matching the description of a vehicle used in another of the pharmacy robberies was found.
It is unclear if the robberies were done in an attempt to supply Gerding with the medication he needed to feed his addiction or if he was also selling the drugs on the street in order to maintain a drug induced stupor.
