Police seeking pair in medication thefts
Washington police are searching for two men who took medication from people outside of The Medicine Shoppe, 400 Jefferson Ave., Wednesday and Thursday.
Police said the latest strong-arm robbery occurred at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday outside the store. A different man took medication from a patron Wednesday, but police believe they are working together and fled in a dark gray, 2016 Subaru Legacy with West Virginia license plates with the first letter being J.
Officer Willis McConnell said a female delivery driver had three envelopes containing medication.
As she unlocked her vehicle, which was parked in a spot adjacent to the sidewalk along Jefferson, a man, who is white, about 6 feet tall, with shoulder-length dark hair and wearing and bandana and layers of clothing, grabbed the envelopes and pushed her away before jumping into a car that pulled up along Jefferson.
The car then turned up Second Street and apparently looped around the building, turning to go south on Jefferson, McConnell said. The car was last seen in the area of the Subway restaurant.
An Ohio woman told Washington police about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday she was getting into her car after leaving the pharmacy, where she had just filled a prescription for 56 Subotex.
When she opened the passenger door, a man grabbed her purse. She struggled with him but he knocked her to the ground, police said. She declined treatment for a knee injury.
The robber is that incident is an older white man with gray hair. He may have a gap in his front teeth. He also wore a yellow ball cap that fell off in the struggle with the alleged victim. Police took it as evidence.
The victim told police she had been at Tri-State Health, also at 400 Jefferson, where she got the prescription for the medication that she had filled at the pharmacy.
Witnesses told police the robber may have been at Tri-State Health in the past, but they did not know his name.
Detective Dan Rush said there were no reports of weapons being used in either robbery.
City police will attempt to obtain surveillance footage in Thursday’s incident.
Anyone with information on the robberies is asked to call 911 or Washington police at 724-223-4226.
Staff writer Natalie Reid Miller contributed to this report.