Walgreens continues to be crime target in Scottsdale

Another Walgreens drugstore in Scottsdale fell victim to a crime over the weekend, averaging one incident a month at the drugstore chain in the city since August. While the total of 10 incidents for 2007 and early 2008 all involve Walgreens stores, different suspects were arrested or are suspected in each one, according to information from Scottsdale police.

In the most recent, a man fled from a south Scottsdale Walgreens after placing boxes of the drug Prilosec in his pants before pushing the store manager out of the way on Saturday and driving away in a white Jeep Wrangler.

Saturday's theft was at least the seventh incident at a Walgreens store in the city since August in a variety of crimes that have included armed robbery as well as an assault on a store clerk who was hit over the head with a pistol, according to police.

In Saturday's incident, the manager of the store at 5625 E. Thomas Road told police a Hispanic man, about 35 years old and weighing about 160 pounds, wearing a blue baseball cap, blue T-shirt and baggy jeans entered at about 8:30 p.m.

After the man began removing Prilosec off the shelves, the manager said he approached the man and told him not to leave the store, but the man pushed past him and ran.

Prilosec is a drug used to decrease the amount of acid produced in the stomach and treat symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease and other conditions.

In all, a crime has been committed in at least six of Scottsdale's 15 Walgreens outlets with arrests in four of them, police reported. Of the 10 incidents, seven of them have been classified as armed robberies, according to police.

Among the earlier incidents:

On Feb. 23, James Deroy Jr., a 19-year-old Mesa man, was arrested on suspicion of robbery as he left the Walgreens at 8449 E. McDonald Drive. Police say Deroy had handed a note to pharmacy employees demanding prescription drugs.

On Dec. 16, a man entered the Walgreens at 7011 E. Shea Blvd. about 7:20 p.m. and demanded the drug Oxycontin. A 23-year-old man was arrested in connection with the crime on Jan. 7.

On Dec. 18, two teenagers carrying skateboards entered the Walgreens at 8449 E. McDonald Drive and faked making a small purchase before one of the men pointed a pistol at a 61-year-old clerk, demanded cash and hit him over the head with the gun before leaving the store. One suspect in the crime was arrested; the other was already in custody on another charge.

A spokeswoman for the Illinois-based Walgreens chain, Carol Hively, told the Tribune on Monday that it would not comment on specific incidents, citing ongoing investigations. "I know we have security measures in place at our stores, but we don't like to say what they are so people can circumvent them," she said.