Had stolen $13K of OTC meds from two Walgreens
The Highland Falls Police Department was able to quickly catch and arrest three Brooklyn men last Thursday who had just robbed both the Highland Falls and Vails Gate Walgreens — in the process the officers recovered over $13,000 of over-the-counter medicines the men had stolen from the two stores.
HFPD Officer-in-Charge Jason Torpey said Monday morning that at about 7:30 p.m. on April 7, a robbery occurred in Highland Falls. Three men entered Walgreens and began stuffing large duffle bags with over-the-counter medications.
“They were observed by a customer in the store, who alerted store staff,” Torpey said. “A store employee waited by the front of the door to tell the men they needed to pay for their merchandise. At the same time, another employee called the HFPD.”
The men then left the store, shoving the employee out of the way.
But, HFPD dispatcher CariAnn Petit had immediately notified Police Officer Rich Santiago, who happened to be in the area; he saw them leaving the parking lot and proceeded to stop them on Dale Ave., where they had hoped to avoid him by pulling into a driveway.
Santiago and Sgt. Rob Ruger immediately took them men into custody, and found the bags of merchandise they had taken from the Highland Falls Walgreens, as well as from the Vails Gate Walgreens less than an hour earlier. They used store security footage to identify which bags were used in each robbery.
Rashiem Downing, 35, Elquan Tillman 22, and Amir Smith 21, all from Brooklyn, were arrested. They were charged with Robbery (2nd degree), Grand Larceny (3rd degree) and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property (3rd degree), all felonies. After arraignment in Newburgh, Downing was remanded to the Orange County Jail, “because he had prior violent felonies,” Torpey said, and the other two were issued appearance tickets.
The merchandise was returned to the two stores.
Torpey said he is concerned by the incident, noting this type of robbery has become a national trend that hadn’t previously touched this area.
He noted the offenders were not masked, and did not have any weapons.
Torpey added that he is proud of the Walgreens staff for remaining calm and “doing a good job of immediately alerting us”.
He also praised his officers and Petit for their good work.
“I truly believe we were able to catch them because of our local dispatch services,” he said. “In Vails Gate they called 911, who immediately alerted the NWPD, but by the time they got there the men were gone.”
Torpey also issued a warning to community residents for when they are shopping or in public places.
“Be alert to your surroundings,” he said, “but I want to remind everyone not to be confrontational with this sort of people, you don’t know who you are dealing with; in this case one of the men had a violent past that involved weapons.”
