The man did not demand or take any cash. When he left the pharmacy with the stolen pills, he was chased on foot by witnesses. They report he pulled out his knife to confront them, waning he would cut them if they didn’t leave him alone.

The individual was said to then get in a bronze, four-door Jeep driven by an unidentified individual. The suspect was described to be in his late 30s, or early 40s, roughly 6 feet 3 inches tall and an estimated 185 pounds. He was identified as having a small patch of hair below his lower lip.

Crimes such as these continue to pop up in destinations all over the world. More and more individuals are finding themselves addicted to substances that were originally intended to relieve legitimate pain. Pharmacies are a key destination for robberies as they maintain high quantities of narcotic painkillers, such as OxyContin, Percocet and other drugs that are in high demand.

Law enforcement agencies are working to try and make it more difficult for addicts to target pharmacies, yet the process is bound to be slow and inconvenience law-abiding citizens.
 

Such an addiction was behind a gunpoint robbery recently in Eureka, according to a Times Standard report. A suspect used a gun to rob the Redwood Pharmacies of its stock of OxyContin.

According to reports from the Eureka Police Department, a man pointed a handgun at the clerk to gain access to the narcotic. He then ran out of the store and down the alley behind the building. The pharmacy was closed during the investigation.

One co-worker was alerted by another when the man entered the store. He reportedly had a black cloth covering most of his face. When the pharmacy worker ran to tell the pharmacist the store was being robbed, she turned around to meet the eyes of the perpetrator. The man told her he just wanted the OxyContin and would leave quickly.

Workers claim the individual was actually friendly about it, making the whole incident seem weird. When no one responded to his request, he asked for the drugs again and an employee pointed to the cupboard where the drugs were kept. The robber quickly took the OxyContin and left the pharmacy.

In talking with individuals at another pharmacy that had been robbed previously, the description of the individual, including his disposition and blue eyes, matched that of the Redwood Pharmacies robber.
 

In a recent Stuff report, New Zealand police in Christchurch have caught two men accused of a number of armed robberies at pharmacies throughout the city. Officers were called to one pharmacy after a knife-point robbery resulted in the taking of a large quantity of drugs.

Two of the offenders in this incident were able to initially escape; yet police caught them at a nearby intersection. The two individuals were arrested – both are listed as in their 40s and unemployed. The same two men are also accused of two other knife-point robberies which also included large quantities of drugs being taken.

These arrests came on the same day as another pharmacy robbery in a nearby town. Police were hunting for an armed man and later surrounded a house where the suspected robber may have been hiding. Officers were unable to catch the individual.

According to reports, this individual entered one pharmacy and demanded morphine. He was able to obtain a certain quantity of the drug.

A string of robberies have hit the area lately. And, while not all robberies have been pharmacies – one bank and a Post Shop were also hit – stores with pharmacy counters have certainly been the majority target over the last month.
 

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.
 

The Metro News reported that between September 11 and October 13, police investigated 20 drugstore robberies and four attempted robberies, all which targeted Oxycontin, one of the most popular and potent painkillers on the market.

According to Staff Sgt. Don Sweet of the Ottawa Police Robbery Unit, Oxycontin – often dubbed Hillbilly Heroin – used to be targeted for the drug itself. Now, police believe that these robberies are linked and that the drugs are sold street level through established distribution lines.

“This is way more than what we saw originally,” he said. “You’re always going to see addicted individuals, but this is a newer angle where all of a sudden, we see a huge spike.”

On the street, Oxycontin is priced according to the strength of the particular pill and can be very lucrative for criminals. In Ottwawa, 10, 20 and 40 mg tablets are sold for $20 to $40 a pill, while an 80 mg tablet fetches $40 to $50 per pill.

Police have also investigated thefts of Oxycontin from delivery trucks and pharmacy-related frauds where perpetrators were successful in getting elderly people to pick up the drugs. “It’s very sought after and criminals are seeking different ways of getting in,” Sweet said.

According to Sweet, the majority of the robberies are perpetrated by younger black males using notes. The majority of the robberies happen after 8 p.m. in the suburbs in the west and east ends of the city. While there appears to be no violence involved in these robberies, there is always the threat of violence.