LEWISTON — Police from three agencies Wednesday night were searching for a suspect accused of robbing the Rite Aid pharmacy on Lisbon Street.
Lewiston police were called to the pharmacy at about 8 p.m. when a Rite Aid employee reported a partially masked man went into the pharmacy, claiming to have a gun.
Police did not say whether the suspect demanded drugs or money or whether any was obtained.
Witnesses told police the suspect may have fled in a white SUV that was last seen heading down South Avenue, toward the river.
Local police swarmed the scene but the suspect was not found. Investigators searching for the culprit began looking for a connection between the Wednesday heist and a similar robbery at the Main Street Rite Aid on Monday.
In that robbery, police said a man walked into the pharmacy, demanded the prescription painkiller OxyContin and fled once a quantity of the drug was handed over. The suspect was describe as a white man in a winter snorkel jacket with a fur-lined hood, police said.
In the Wednesday night robbery, witnesses told police the suspect was a white man wearing a blue coat with a cap partially pulled over his face.
As they searched for the suspect Wednesday night, local police enlisted the help of Auburn Police and the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Department. By 8:30 p.m., officers from each of the agencies were heading to a location in Minot as their investigation continued.
Rite Aid has offered a $3,000 reward for the capture of the suspect who robbed the Main Street pharmacy on Monday. But later Wednesday night, no arrest had been made in either heist.
Anyone with information is asked to call the local police department.
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No Armed Guards
For far too many reasons to list here armed guards are a really bad idea. Retail places like this should invest in numerous - High Quality - cameras. Cameras will deter some and catch some. From what I have seen from the photos released in other robberies the quality of the cameras is not very good and therefore useless. And the robbers know this.
In a place like RiteAid I am sure that employees are told to hand over whatever the robbers ask for. There is nothing in any store or bank that is worth risking your life over. And that includes risking lives by having armed security guards. Get them out of the store as quickly as possible and then let the police handle things. That is the best tactic for protecting customers and employees.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.One good thing a security
One good thing a security officer on location could do is monitor the entrance and when someone enters the store with thier face covered like in these two robberies, THey could approach and ask the person to please remove thier hood,facemask,etc... Just knowing that someone is there to intercept potential robbers is a deterrent to those willing to commit the crimes. Knowing they will have to show thier face for the camera upon entry will defenitely turn them in a different direction.
As far as armed guards go, If the robber is brandishing a weapon he is deemed a threat to the general public and any individual taking it upon themselves to get involved is covered under the law to be lawful in stopping the individual whom is posing an immediate and unavoidable threat to public safety...
2. A person is justified in using deadly force upon another person:
A. When the person reasonably believes it necessary and reasonably believes such other person is:
(1) About to use unlawful, deadly force against the person or a 3rd person; or
(2) Committing or about to commit a kidnapping, robbery or a violation of section 253, subsection 1, paragraph A, against the person or a 3rd person; or [1989, c. 878, Pt. B, §15 (AMD).]
B. When the person reasonably believes:
(1) That such other person has entered or is attempting to enter a dwelling place or has surreptitiously remained within a dwelling place without a license or privilege to do so; and
(2) That deadly force is necessary to prevent the infliction of bodily injury by such other person upon the person or a 3rd person present in the dwelling place; [2007, c. 173, §24 (AMD).]
C. However, a person is not justified in using deadly force as provided in paragraph A if:
(1) With the intent to cause physical harm to another, the person provokes such other person to use unlawful deadly force against anyone;
(2) The person knows that the person against whom the unlawful deadly force is directed intentionally and unlawfully provoked the use of such force; or
(3) The person knows that the person or a 3rd person can, with complete safety:
(a) Retreat from the encounter, except that the person or the 3rd person is not required to retreat if the person or the 3rd person is in the person's dwelling place and was not the initial aggressor;
(b) Surrender property to a person asserting a colorable claim of right thereto; or
(c) Comply with a demand that the person abstain from performing an act that the person is not obliged to perform. [2007, c. 173, §24 (AMD).]
[ 2007, c. 173, §24 (AMD) .]
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/17-A/title17-Asec108.html
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Really?
Ginger...
What, would you have these armed security guards escort Grandma home and tuck her in also?
The blame for such crimes lies with those committing the crime.
I guess I don't understand how this is the blame of the pharmacy.
Perhaps you should encourage mail order for your Grandma if you fear for her safety.....
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.How about protecting the employees, too?
It's not just the customers that should be protected-there are hard working people who are employed by the drug stores whose lives are endangered by robberies. It is truly frightening to know that your life is not worth much for someone who is desperate for their fix, and will possibly do anything to get that fix.
Being at the receiving end of a robbery is not very fun at all and truly terrifying, especially when it is assumed that the robber might be armed.
Putting security in would be nice-but only the police have the ability and the legal power to use force-security people would not be allowed to do anything besides take down descriptions. They'd be just as helpless as the customers and the employees when a robbery occurs.
We're told not to stop or even interfere with someone robbing us. To be totally helpless in this kind of situation is insane but that's the way the law works. If we do anything to stop a robbery, the robber could sue us for the attempt.
Self-defense is not a an option. We have fewer rights than the perpetrator when it comes to that.
I've been in a robbery situation-and while the outcome was good (he didn't get away), I never want to be in that position again-but I might, because I still work at the same place.
It's fun knowing that you take your life in your hands every day when you report to work.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.PROTECT THE ELDERLY.
With the kind of money these drug stores generate ,and do to the fact that every year robberies increase at all of them; these places should have an armed security guard on duty for their customers,and employees protection. It's too bad, but , When people having chemo,and other serious illnesses have to wear a bullet proof vest to go get their meds, something needs to be done. These big drug store chains make millions a year , they spend millions competing with eachother, and drumming local pharmacies out of business ; God forbid they should drop a buck to protect their loyal customers.
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