AUGUSTA — City police are investigating a Monday afternoon pharmacy robbery at a Shaw’s supermarket on Western Avenue.

In a press release, Lt. Christopher Massey said around 12:25 p.m., a man approached the pharmacy counter and passed a threatening note to an employee, demanding Oxycontin pills. Massey said the man, who didn’t show any weapon, was given pills before fleeing the store on foot. Nobody was injured.

The man was described as in his mid-20s, wearing a hooded jacket or sweatshirt and weighing between 140 and 165 pounds, with a short, scruffy beard.

In an email, Augusta Deputy Chief Jared Mills said a police dog tracked the robber to a nearby parking lot, but the man wasn’t found. He said police are only seeking one suspect, but they aren’t ruling out potential accomplices.

Mills said the store was full of shoppers at the time, and detectives were called to gather evidence, including seeking witness interviews and physical evidence. He said it is unknown exactly how many eyewitnesses there are.

Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said after Monday’s robbery in Augusta and a Thursday pharmacy robbery reported in the Washington County town of Milbridge, Maine has had nine pharmacy robberies this year. That’s compared to 54 pharmacy robberies in 2012.

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Of those 54 robberies, nine were in Augusta — more than any other city or town in Maine. But Monday’s pharmacy robbery is Augusta’s first this year since Jan. 22, when the CVS Pharmacy on Stone Street was robbed. The Shaw’s pharmacy wasn’t ever robbed before Monday, Mills said.

In that case, three people were charged: Anthony W. Post, 19, of Auburn, pleaded guilty earlier this year to the robbery after police said he fled with several bottles of OxyContin pills. Stephanie L. McCormick, 22, of Augusta, also pleaded guilty to robbery, and both face up to 20 years in prison.

McCormick and Post each face maximum prison terms of 20 years, while the third person, Candice Marie Eaton, 26, of Augusta, is accused of aiding and abetting the robbery by being the driver for Post and McCormick.

Michael Shepherd — 370-7652mshepherd@centralmaine.comTwitter: @mikeshepherdme


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