Police busy with rash of pharmacy break-ins in county

MARYSVILLE — A series of break-ins and attempted break-ins at local pharmacies has police from different parts of Snohomish County comparing notes and scouring video.

One man was arrested Thursday morning after an early morning burglary at the Hilton Pharmacy at the corner of Third Street and State Avenue in Marysville. Police pursued two other suspects who reportedly drove off in a Cadillac. Officers abandoned the pursuit along northbound State Avenue after about four miles. They deemed the chase too dangerous.

Marysville officers were alerted by an alarm around 4:45 a.m.

Less than an hour earlier, an alarm in Everett sent police to the Shiraz Specialty Pharmacy in the 200 block of E Casino Road where the front window was broken.

“It is unknown how much, if anything, was taken,” Everett police officer Aaron Snell said.

Around 2:20 a.m. Wednesday, two masked men tried to break into a pharmacy in Monroe.

“It appears the window was struck nine or 10 times,” Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said.

The double-paned window held up well on the side of a Pharm-a-Save in the 17700 block of 147th Street SE, Willis said. The would-be burglars were not able to get inside.

Police collected a Milky Way candy bar wrapper, found near the window, as potential evidence.

In the Marysville case, an 18-year-old Seattle man was taken into custody. A police officer ran after him for a short distance before using his electronic stun gun to stop the suspect.

The man was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett for a medical evaluation. He was expected to be booked into the Snohomish County Jail after getting medical clearance.

“Some of the drugs that were stolen from the pharmacy were recovered in the backpack of the captured suspect,” Marysville police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux said.

Last week, four young Seattle men were booked into jail for investigation of burglary after a Walgreens Pharmacy break-in in south Everett.

The men are suspected of stealing prescription drugs. Someone climbed through a broken drive-through window. Everett patrol officers were dispatched around 3:15 a.m. on March 17 to the Walgreens in the 13100 block of 19th Avenue SE after an alarm. They arrived within five minutes and found a hole in the drive-through pharmacy window.

Patrol officers spotted a blue car with covered license plates leaving the area.

The car reached about 50 mph on city streets and 80 mph as it headed south on I-5 before engine trouble forced it to a stop near the I-405 ramp.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.

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