Police have released a sketch of a man who is stealing painkillers from local pharmacies by threatening to blow up the stores.
The robber hands clerks a note in which he claims to have a bomb and threatens to set it off, Erie police said in a media release.
On June 23, the “drug-store bandit” robbed Beattie’s HealthMart Pharmacy, 3140 Village Vista Drive, demanding Percocet and OxyContin, police said.
Investigators believe the same man, using the same method, has robbed stores in Thornton, Lafayette and Denver.
In Erie, the robber left behind a package he said contained a bomb. The Boulder County Bomb Squad responded to the store and determined it wasn’t an explosive device.
Police said they’re concerned about the robberies increasing and the possibility that someone could get hurt.
The robber is described as a Latino man in his early 20s with a slim build. He is about 5-foot-6 and wore black pants, a white shirt and a dark baseball cap during the Erie robbery.
Anyone with information on a possible suspect or the robberies is asked to call Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
