Rock Hill For the third time in four months, someone broke into the Rock Hill Pharmacy.
Each time, it happened the same way: Perpetrator grabs a rock, hurls it through the bay window, gets inside and goes for the good stuff opioid pain medication. He's in and out fast.
He hit early on Aug. 20 and Nov. 13.
The pharmacy fought back. Owner Scott Mace said he worked with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, which regulates pharmacies, to upgrade security: video cameras, more alarms, more sensors and for the opioids a heavy-duty safe that can't be carried off.
"There's no way that they're going to get in here and get anything again," Mace said.
Just before 2:30 a.m. Sunday, there was another break-in.
It was caught on video. Police said the man wore a mask. They released only the barest of descriptions white guy, 5 foot 9 to 5 foot 11 inches tall, medium build.
"The guy went right in and went right to the shelf for the oxycodone," said Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty. "OxyContin's become a drug of choice."
When he saw the empty shelf, the burglar fled, empty-handed.
The drugstore break-ins are a sign of the times, Sullivan County District Attorney Steve Lungen said. It's not just OxyContin, a time-release form of oxycodone that relieves severe pain. People have gotten oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, fentanyl, methadone and other narcotics through forged prescriptions or street deals.
In 2004, three men stole thousands of pills from the Jeffersonville Pharmacy. Only about half the pills were recovered.
There have been serious car crashes in Sullivan County in which drivers were high on prescription drugs.
"We've seen all kinds of people abusing them working people, professionals, nurses," Lungen said. "We've had an awful lot of this stuff, and it's been pretty significant for the last three or four years.
News RSS