Authorities are seeking a suspect they say fled with prescription drugs in an unknown quantity before disappearing into the surrounding area.
By Matt Skoufalos
Haddonfield police are tracking a man they say robbed the Haddon Avenue Rite Aid pharmacy for prescription drugs at gunpoint shortly Tuesday afternoon.
After receiving an unknown quantity of Adderall, the suspect allegedly exited the store, and dragged a priest from his nearby vehicle, which he then allegedly stole. Police believe the man then abandoned the car a short distance away, and fled into the surrounding neighborhood.
Haddonfield Police Chief Ted Stuessy said that despite an intense search of the area involving K-9 units and support from nearby police departments, the man was not located. The carjacking victim was reportedly unharmed and the vehicle was not crashed after the theft.
Stuessy also said that the nearby Tatem Elementary and Christ the King schools were locked down briefly as a precaution.
The suspect is described as a six-foot-tall white male weighing about 200 pounds. According to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office (CCPO), he was wearing “a long yellow rain jacket, yellow reflective vest, hooded sweatshirt, black mask and white hardhat,” and carried an orange traffic cone during the robbery.
“Prior to the robbery, the suspect was observed measuring trees near the store as well as the outside of the Rite Aid building with a tape measure,” the CCPO noted. Detectives think the suspect may also be connected to the robbery of a Logan Township Rite Aid in Gloucester County, as reported on NJ.com.
Police are seeking anyone with information about the incident, the suspect, or his whereabouts.
“We’ll take anyone who might have been in the area,” Stuessy said; “anyone who might have seen any vehicle out of place.”
Detectives will continue to process the scene for physical evidence, and review any nearby video cameras. In the meantime, anyone with information is asked to call the Haddonfield police dispatch line at 856-429-3000.
Addictions-related behavior has become a growing concern in Camden County. A Cherry Hill pharmacy was twice robbed at knifepoint in the past few months by a man seeking opiates. First responders have been saving lives with the opioid disruptor Narcan, and residents of Haddonfield are confronting the question of developer J. Brian O’Neill situating a rehab facility in the borough limits.
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