by Jamie Blough

Culture Editor

Over the past few weeks, many Bay Area business locals were victims of an increasing number of robberies. From cash register raids at gunpoint to shoplifting high school students, there seems to be an escalation in thieves in the Bay Area. The most recent was a pharmacy robbery at the Walgreens located on Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos.                                                                                                             

An eyewitness reported the incident on Oct. 7 at 3:00 PM. Evidently, a high-school-aged teenager entered the establishment, “walked right past three female pharmacy staff, grabbed some pills, and then jumped the counter and walked right out of the store.” Staff members failed to notice anything suspicious, and the crime was not reported until 23 minutes after it took place.

The eyewitness originally suspected the thief to be the son of a worker who was helping his parent with some deliveries. It wasn’t until a female pharmacist began wiping down the scuff mark that his shoe left on the counter that she got suspicious. Thinking the worker would ease her doubt, she remarked that the scuff was most likely from “his shoe.” When the pharmacy worker questioned whose shoe she referred to, the eyewitness began to describe the daylight crime.

According to Los Gatos police officer J.R. Langer, “the white, male suspect fled on foot with an unknown quantity of Xanax.” When prescribed, Xanax is used to treat anxiety patients. One bottle can cost up to 70 dollars. A tall, dark haired male, the student “most likely stole the pills to sell to other teenagers as recreational drugs,” according to Langer.

The NY Times contacted the Walgreens headquarters in Illinois, but they refused to comment on the incident. The suspect has not yet been identified, but the Los Gatos Police Department is now keeping a close eye on establishments around Los Gatos, specifically the Safeway located on North Santa Cruz Avenue.