Man arrested after steaiing 20,000 pain killers

Deputies on patrol chase leads, nab suspect

Lee Giles III

of the Gateway

A Key Peninsula man has been arrested for breaking into a local pharmacy and stealing thousands of narcotic prescription medications, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.

Using a friend’s car to drive and park near the Cost-Plus store on Jan. 14, suspect Darrell Murphy told authorities he gained access to the store by using a loading device to scale a security fence.

Murphy then told investigators he used two cordless power tools to cut an access hole above the pharmacy to gain access to the business. He said he disabled cameras and an alarm before he loaded a large bag with thousands of different narcotic prescription pain medications, including Oxycontin, Oxycodone and some steroid medications.

Several pharmacy-filled customer prescriptions also were taken from the pharmacy. By the time he left the scene, Murphy reportedly took close to 20,000 individual doses of prescription pain killers, according to the sheriff’s department.

The suspect was caught because he failed to disconnect two surveillance cameras, leading to a positive identification.

“The suspect arrested was definitely a motivated criminal, taking into consideration his preparation and execution of the crime,” said Dan Wulick, a deputy investigator with Pierce County Sheriff’s Peninsula Detachment.

Murphy told officials he hatched the plan to break into the pharmacy, steal the medications and sell them on the street for profit in an attempt to escape mounting debt.

The sheriff’s office dedicated three deputies over 14 hours in the first two days following the incident, putting together both a search warrant and the entire case.

Lee Giles III is the photographer of The Peninsula Gateway. He can be reached at 253-853-9242 or by e-mail at lee.giles@gateline.com.