photo by Melissa Meske
Alton Police Lt. Gary Cranmer, chief of detectives, addresses the media Tuesday, June 19, regarding the robberies in recent days at the CVS and Walgreens pharmacies in Alton, across the street from each other at the intersection of College and Washington avenues.
Surveillance images captured by Walgreens security cameras provided by Alton Police Department
ALTON | At a press conference Tuesday, June 19, Alton Police Lt. Gary Cranmer, chief of detectives, shared details regarding the robbery of Walgreens pharmacy at College and Washington avenues in Alton earlier that morning and the June 17 armed robbery of the CVS pharmacy across the street.
“On June 17 at approximately 1 a.m., two black males in their mid- to late 20s entered the CVS pharmacy in Alton with handguns to conduct an armed robbery,” Cranmer said. “The purpose of the robbery was to collect a large quantity of opiate pain medication.”
Both suspects were described as being tall, Cranmer said, with one in dark jeans while the other wore shorts. Both suspects were also described as clean-shaven.
“Of special or particular interest was that one of the suspects had a tattoo of a webbing design on his left hand, fingers and knuckles,” Cranmer said.
Following that robbery, the suspects fled in an unknown vehicle, south on Illinois 3, to an unknown location.
“Again on June 19 at approximately 3 a.m., two black male suspects entered the Walgreens pharmacy located in close proximity to CVS to conduct another robbery,” Cranmer said.
These suspects, as noted by Cranmer, were described as being in their late 20s to 30 years of age. Both suspects in this case were described as being of average to slightly above average build, and both had on dark-colored jeans, gray T-shirts and hats.
“One had on a dark-colored ball cap with light-colored writing on the front, while the other had on a white in color fishing-style or ‘boonie’ type of hat,” Cranmer said.
Both of these suspects were again described as clean-shaven.
“The purpose of this robbery was once again the collection of a large amount of opiate pain medication,” Cranmer said. “During this robbery, force was once again deployed; however, this time a female clerk was seriously injured.”
Cranmer later said the clerk was stable and recovering in a St. Louis area hospital.
Following the Walgreens robbery, the suspects fled east on College Avenue, out of town to an unknown location in an unidentified vehicle.
“We are desperately seeking the help from everyone in our local community as well as the entire Metro East and St. Louis region because at this point any community with a 24-hour pharmacy is a potential target, and it is clear that these individuals are not going to stop,” Cranmer said.
“I do believe there is a connection between the two incidences,” Cranmer added.
He also estimated a street value of the stolen opiate pain medication from one of these incidences to be at least $30,000. Targeted prescription opiate pain medications include those commonly known as Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycodone and Oxycontin. He speculated the stolen drugs were in turn being sold by these individuals.
Anyone with information about the suspects’ identities is asked to call the Alton Police Department at (618) 463-3505.