Back alley prescription drug heist

UPPER DARBY, Pa. - September 25, 2009 (WPVI) -- It was a clean getaway from the Upper Darby Pharmacy with enough drugs to keep street suppliers satisfied for quite some time.

A security camera captured three men in hooded sweatshirts walk by as a driver began to unload a delivery in an alley behind Upper Darby Pharmacy. Ten seconds after he stacks up the crates, two different men, backs to the camera, load the boxes back into the van and take off.

"They're street thugs, at the end of the day they're bums. That's the bottom line. But they planned it out, they knew what they were doing and you could see that from how they operated," Lt. Michael Chitwood of the Upper Darby Police said.

Police say the driver was pushed into his van and tied up. Less than 30 minutes later, the suspects got out near the 6700 block of Essington in Southwest Philadelphia, put the drugs in a getaway car, and took off, leaving the driver unharmed.

"The victim is very lucky, usually in a case like this, for no reason, they wind up shooting them or beating them to death," Chitwood said.

Police worry these back alley pharmaceutical robberies are becoming more common.

"This is something that's happening across the country, instead of going into a pharmacy and sticking them up, they're getting the delivery operators," Chitwood said.

This isn't the only surveillance footage police have. They're still in the process of viewing a different angle in the alley and footage from the car dealership where the suspects dropped the van.

Anyone who recognizes the men in the video or has any tips should call the Upper Darby Police Department.

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local/state, katherine scott

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