WATERVILLE, Maine — Two men were arrested Tuesday after an early morning robbery at a Rite Aid Pharmacy in Waterville, according to police.
Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey said Kyle Hunter, 19, and Lance Vashon, 34, both of Waterville, are facing Class B felony robbery charges.
Tuesday’s incident marks the third Rite Aid robbery in Maine in the past week. A Rite Aid was held up in Bucksport on Aug. 15, and another robbed in Newport on Aug. 16. Suspects in both incidents remain at large.
Massey said Vashon and Hunter entered the establishment around 8 a.m., handed a pharmacist a threatening note demanding OxyContin pills and fled.
A store clerk even asked the suspects to remove hooded sweatshirts, ball caps and sunglasses that they were wearing, but Massey said they didn’t comply and kept walking toward the pharmacy.
The clerk, however, had a hunch what the suspects were up to and called 911.
“By the time they fled the store we had an officer almost in the parking lot,” said Massey. “It ended well for us.”
The suspects wound up ditching a backpack in which the drugs were found in a garbage can outside the store, Massey said, and even though they scattered in different directions police quickly found them.
After the men were detained, surveillance footage confirmed that Vashon and Hunter were responsible, and they were placed under arrest.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said Tuesday’s robbery marks the 37th pharmacy robbery statewide in 2012. Only 28 pharmacy robberies were reported last year.
“I’ve said right along that eventually one of these pharmacy robberies is going to end in tragedy or in someone being seriously hurt,” said Massey.
Hunter has had brushes with the law before, Massey said. At the time of his arrest, he was on bail for a prior assault charge, resulting in a probation hold.
Hunter and Vashon were both transported to the Kennebec County Jail, where they both remain Tuesday afternoon. Hunter’s bail was set at $5,000 cash and Vashon’s at $2,500.
They face up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines if convicted. The men are due in Kennebec County Superior Court on Oct. 10.
Kennebec County sheriff’s deputies assisted Waterville police at the scene.
How about placing some undercover officers in these pharmacies? They get robbed at least 1-2 times a month. It would also be great if you sentenced these characters to some real time not 30 days. Too bad we couldn’t ban these people from Maine after they serve time for their crimes. Send them to Texas where they have real meaningful sentences.
K68- I love your comments, this is what I have wished for now, for some time. The courts seem to be so lenient in doling out a sentence for the wrongdoers, especially the violent offenders. I just hope that no violence comes to any of the clerks at the pharmacies that are being robbed!!! I just cringe when I hear of another pharmacy that has been robbed and hope that no one was hurt!! Undercover officers would certainly help, but with so many cutbacks there probably are not too many officers available??? I also even thought of having the pharmacist hand over a mess of aspirins instead of the heavy duty stuff, but that would probably do more harm than good, huh, in that it may turn out violence toward the pharmacist!!! Wow, this is a difficult problem!!!
It’s not that difficult…bullet proof glass where they need to take money and answer questions and box the rest in. It will happen sooner then later so they may as well do it now. Why is it that one would need to be able to touch a pharmacist. People are still going to get the same amount of drugs if there is the personal element or not.
Today is tomorrow nonews.
Another one????? Wow…I am not even going to Rite Aide anymore because of this!!! Rite Aides in Boston are safer than here.
I don’t know what law enforcement is doing in this state with all the addicts to prescription pain killers! It seems there is never any arrests ever! Waterville P.D. is maybe a block away from this Rite Aid. Let me get the police departments started with some information…well ahhh we’ve missed em every time, they might have a drug problem, and ahhhh we believe they have a car. I stopped paying my taxes for a reason…this is one of them!
I see this article and I just shake my head. At this point, I wonder if it’s an insurance scam on the part of Rite Aid? I mean, really probably time for the company to put some safety measures in to protect their pharmacy staff and medications. The first couple of robberies showed all the addicts that Rite Aids are an easy target, so why isn’t Rite Aid implementing policies/safety glass/security to become less of a target?
from seeing in the news everyday that rite aid here got robbed and rite aid there got robbed in maine, it may make it seem that rite aids are unsafe. however the only reason it’s mostly rite aid being robbed is because rite aid owns more pharmacys in maine than any other company
Exactly. Rite aid is typically old contruction and they are on every block. Plus if people go to the new Walgreens built like the one in Brewer it is clear that robbing a place with thick glass and a place for the pharmacist to get out of harms way when threatened deters most “smash and grab” robbers. Rite Aids leave the pharmacist way to exposed. The robber knows they are going to get their quick fix even if they do go to jail.
The Rite Aid stores must have a sign posted outside of their establishment stating ” We are ripe for the picking.” Enter at our risk.
Im surprised they dont put the pharmacy counter behind protective glass like some dominoes pizza…
Hand them a bag of exlax and tell them its Oxycondone!
They won’t be back!