Wasilla pharmacy robbed for drugs

WASILLA — A pharmacist was closing up shop for the night Monday when an armed man forced open the back door and demanded a tote full of prescription medications.

Alaska State Troopers say the robbery was reported at 7:40 p.m. at Geneva Woods Pharmacy on Seward Meridian Parkway.

“An unknown male forced entry through the back door of the pharmacy while the lone pharmacist was preparing to close the pharmacy for the evening. The suspect was armed with a firearm and forced the pharmacist to fill up a large tote with all of the controlled prescription medication,” reads a trooper press release.

Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said troopers aren’t releasing the type of drugs stolen, preferring instead to say the theft involved $40,000 worth of controlled substances.

“The suspect is a white adult male, tall (about 6’2” to 6’4”). We have a vehicle description but are following up on a few leads and don’t want to release it yet,” Peters wrote in an e-mail.

The pharmacist was not hurt in the incident.

Troopers ask anyone who knows something about the robbery to call the Palmer post at 745-2131 or Mat-Su Crime Stoppers at 745-3333. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Pharmacy robberies are not unheard of in Mat-Su — Geneva Woods was previously targeted in 2010. And the Susitna Professional Pharmacy was robbed in 2003 and again in 2006.

Law enforcement made arrests in every one of those robberies, according to Frontiersman reports from the time. In the case with the 2010 Geneva Woods robbery, the suspect was arrested a few hours after the robbery, following a car chase that ended in a crash.

Some of the past robbers demanded a specific painkiller by name — Oxycontin, one of the most abused prescription medications. In fact, after previous robberies, some pharmacists said they considered not handling the drug at all.

Troopers, in the department’s 2013 Annual Drug Report, described the abuse of prescription medications — which can sell on the street for as much as $1 to $2 per milligram — as “a significant problem.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.