Police arrest suspect in pharmacy robbery

By Natalie Andrews

September 25, 2005 | LOGAN -- Police arrested a robbery suspect Thursday after a drug theft from the pharmacy at Smith's Marketplace on Main Street.

Capt. Dave Tarbet of the Logan City Police Department said the crime is a first for Logan. It brings the rising problem of prescription drug abuse close to home.

According to the police report, the robber approached the counter at 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Police said he threatened the pharmacist with a note. She gave him a bottle of Dexedrine and oxycontin and he left through the south doors. The pharmacist provided a detailed description of the robber to investigators, including clothing, acne scars, and details that convinced police that the robber was a drug user, Tarbet said.

"Usually that's just the driver behind that sort of thing," Tarbet said. "He knew what kind of drugs he wanted."

Police knew the robber left on foot, but were unsure of the direction he left the building. They were later able to trace him to an apartment six blocks from Smith's.

Scott Lager, 46, was arrested at his apartment at 5:30 p.m. and booked into the Cache County Jail on suspicion of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony. Bail was set at $20,000.

Because the robber made a threat, the crime was a first for law officers in Cache Valley, Tarbet said. Prescription drug theft is on the rise nationally, though forged prescriptions are more common than robbery.

"I'm not even sure when the last pharmacy theft was," Tarbet said. "We've probably had one pharmacy robbed in the last couple of years, I think."

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