Palo Alto Police have released surveillance photos of a man they say robbed a pharmacist at gunpoint in downtown Monday afternoon. No one was injured in the robbery and no arrests have been made.
The robbery happened at the Walgreens at 300 University Ave. just after 2:30 p.m. The suspect got away with oxycontin, a highly-addictive, opiate-based pain reliever.
According to Palo Alto Police Officer Ron Harris, “The investigation revealed that the suspect went to the pharmacy department of the store and asked for help finding an over-the-counter medication.
The pharmacist stepped out of the pharmacy and took him to the proper aisle. Once there, the suspect opened a messenger bag he was wearing slung across his body so that the victim could see his hand on the grip of a gun inside the bag.
The suspect told the pharmacist he was addicted to opiates and demanded the prescription pain drug, OxyContin, according to police. The pharmacist complied and retrieved a bottle of OxyContin, police said.
"The suspect never removed the gun from the bag. The suspect demanded oxycontin….The victim returned to the pharmacy and gave him a bottle of OxyContin," Harris said. "The suspect walked out of the store at a regular pace and was last seen walking southbound on the 500 block of Bryant Street.”
The suspect is described as a white man, about six feet tall, to six feet, two inches tall, between 160 and 180 pounds, and in his 20s, wearing a light-colored Seattle Seahawks cap, a gray fleece jacket and light-colored pants and shoes at the time of the robbery, police said. The messenger bag he was carrying was tan and green with a black strap, police said.
Walgreens' surveillance video system captured images of the suspect, and police are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspect.
Anyone with information on the robbery or the suspect's identity is asked to call the Police Department's 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call or text (650) 383-8984, or email paloalto@tipnow.org.
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