Police rack up drugstore bandit tips
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A screen capture of video surveillance taken from a computer at the Vermont State Police Barracks in Rutland Wednesday shows the man suspected of holding up several local drugstores. PHOTO PROVIDED |
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By Brent Curtis Herald Staff - Published: January 8, 2009
Police have received "numerous" tips about a gunman who held up drugstores in Rutland County and Whitehall, N.Y., but no arrests have been made yet, according to State Police Detective. Sgt. Albert Abdelnour.
State Police along with law enforcement officials in Rutland City and Whitehall are looking for a man described as anywhere from 5 feet 9 inches tall to 6 feet 3 inches tall with short cropped dirty blond or brown hair and blue-green eyes who witnesses said held up Rite Aid pharmacies in Rutland and West Rutland and a CVS pharmacy in Whitehall.
While at least one witness in Rutland described the man as having a protruding, slightly crooked nose, a police sketch released by police in Whitehall portrays a man with a broad nose, rounder face and less pronounced chin.
Abdelnour said the different portraits of the gunman aren't proof that the robberies were carried out by different people — especially given the identical clothing, firearm and messages delivered to pharmacists.
The detective said variations in witnesses' recollections aren't uncommon due to varying angles of view and the features that witnesses focus on.
The unidentified man — or men — wore a brown Carhartt jacket with a hood to two of the robberies and a black jacket to the third. He is believed to be armed with a black handgun which he wore tucked into the waistband of his pants during all three holdups.
The gunman first appeared on New Year's Eve when he held up the Rite Aid on West Street in Rutland. Less than a week later, one robbed first the CVS in Whitehall and then the Rite Aid in West Rutland early Monday evening.
No one has been injured and, despite the implicit threat of violence during the robberies, police said witnesses have described the man's conduct during the holdups as "polite."
In at least two of the three robberies, the man demanded Oxycontin and oxycodone — two powerful painkillers. In the holdup at the Rutland Rite Aid, police said the man demanded bottles of pills, but police declined to identify the type of pills.
A $1,000 reward for the arrest of the gunman is being offered by RxPatrol-Crime Stoppers and the National Community Pharmacists Association.
Tips can be made by calling (888)479-8477 or by calling State Police at 773-9101 or city police at 773-1816.
Contact Brent Curtis at brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com.
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