NEWS

Hello Kitty drug store robber at large

Chike Erokwu
cerokwu@gannett.com

SHELBY – A man carrying a Hello Kitty bag robbed a local pharmacy at gunpoint Saturday, police said, and they're searching for more information.

Bottles of Adderall, Concerta, morphine, Ritalin and other prescription drugs were stolen at about 11:20 a.m. Saturday from Discount Drug Mart on 219 Mansfield Ave. in Shelby.

The Shelby and Plymouth police departments held a joint press conference Thursday to release information about the robbery.

Surveillance image

Police said a man used a black semi-automatic handgun to steal the narcotics, which carry an estimated street value of just under $90,000.

No cash was stolen, and no one was hurt during the robbery.

A surveillance video captured the incident — a video which Shelby police Sgt. David Mack said should provide a clear image as to the robbery suspect's identity.

"If you see this video, you will be able to identify this person," Mack said. "Somebody will know him."

In the video, a man carrying a handgun in his right hand and a Hello Kitty bag in his left hand enters the pharmacy then jumps over the counter. The man, who witnesses describe as a 5'8" white male in his late 20s or early 30s with brown hair and red facial hair, points the gun at a pharmacy technician and demands narcotics.

According to a media release, the pharmacy technician directs the man to the back of the pharmacy, where she opens the narcotics cabinet and dumps the drugs into the Hello Kitty bag.

The man then jumps back over the counter and exits the pharmacy. Employees told police the man may have left in an older white SUV parked near the store.

About 20 minutes before the robbery, the Plymouth Police Department received a report of a suspicious man carrying a Hello Kitty bag inside the Community Markets on 262 Sandusky St. in Plymouth.

The man fit the same physical description as the one given in the Shelby robbery.

The man had been talking on a cell phone inside Community Markets and "acting strange," according to police. Nothing was stolen during the incident. The man left in what witnesses described as a 1990s Dodge Durango — the same vehicle description given by an off-duty Shelby police officer who noticed the vehicle parked erratically at the time of the Shelby robbery.

Shelby and Plymouth police distributed information to local law enforcement agencies on the cases and enlisted the help of the METRICH drug task force to assist with the investigation.

Shelby police Capt. Lance Combs said his department distributed all the information they have to every law enforcement agency in Richland County and surrounding counties as well.

"To date, we've gotten no responses," Combs said. "We have no responses on the identity of this individual which is quite unusual. I can't speculate as to whether they are from this area or not from this area, but we do not have any leads."

Anyone with information related to the incident should call the Shelby Police Department at 419-347-2242.

cerokwu@gannett.com

419-521-7220

Twitter: @ChikeErokwu

Surveillance image