Three men smashed the front-plate glass door of a Cambridge Avenue pharmacy early Wednesday morning, broke into the building and made off with dozens of bottles of prescription drugs, Palo Alto police said.
The burglary was the second to occur at Maximart Pharmacy in the past two months. On April 16, burglars allegedly broke into the pharmacy in the middle of the night and made off with prescription drugs. Palo Alto police have not made any arrests in either case and are investigating whether the two are linked.
The Wednesday incident occurred at about 3:35 a.m., according to surveillance photos, which show three men in hoods rummaging through the small pharmacy at 240 Cambridge Ave. At least one of them is also wearing a ski-mask. Police believe the men used an unidentified object to break the front-plate glass door of the pharmacy and then entered through the broken door and stole the drugs.
Police said they first learned about the burglary when a man on the 200 block of Cambridge called 911 at about 3:45 a.m. and said he saw three men running out of the closed business. The man also reported that the front door appeared to be broken, police said.
Officers responded with a police dog but could not find the burglars, according to a statement from the police department. Witnesses reported seeing the suspects running toward Park Boulevard. The three suspects were described as young males with small to medium build.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the department's 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.
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• Burglar sought after stealing drugs from Palo Alto pharmacy
Comments
Registered user
College Terrace
on Jun 18, 2015 at 11:15 am
Registered user
on Jun 18, 2015 at 11:15 am
This is so sad. I think those metal gate thingees you see in big cities are warranted. It doesn't sound like there was an alarm system. I just hope Ben's insurance covers this second break-in. Maximart is a precious resource to this community, some of whom, like me, avoid big pharmacies such as CVS like the plague.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Jun 18, 2015 at 11:29 am
Registered user
on Jun 18, 2015 at 11:29 am
This is sickening and I hope the miscreants are caught and prosecuted for what they have done. This is horrible for Ben (who is simply wonderful to all his patrons, as is everyone who works there) but also for ill people who need their Rx. Such a selfish act. Ben and Crew: so sorry you have to endure this a second time; once was bad enough.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jun 18, 2015 at 12:53 pm
on Jun 18, 2015 at 12:53 pm
This is terrible news for Ben and Robin and their whole team, who do such a marvelous job of serving our community. What special, caring, and gifted people they are. If you don't know about Maximart, just go to Yelp! to read some of the glowing tributes. I wish them all resilience moving forward.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a necessity for unwelcoming grates over the door and windows. Makes me very sad in so many ways. Bad times.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jun 18, 2015 at 12:59 pm
on Jun 18, 2015 at 12:59 pm
Worse than the break in itself, one has to wonder where those drugs will end up. Bet they got cleaned out of Sudafed, and probably painkillers were next. Watch your kids, there is nasty stuff on the loose.
Charleston Gardens
on Jun 19, 2015 at 10:51 am
on Jun 19, 2015 at 10:51 am
WHY are people so awful?