Thieves Smash Car Into the CVS Pharmacy

WHITTIER - Thieves using a stolen car smashed through the front doors of a pharmacy Wednesday and grabbed a large quantity of a cold remedy used to make methamphetamine.
The incident at CVS Pharmacy at 12560 Whittier Blvd. resembles a similar theft in Anaheim that occurred early Tuesday, said Diana Salazar, the Whittier police spokeswoman.
"We got an alarm call at 2:20 a.m.," Salazar said. "Officers discovered that a large quantity of pseudoephedrine, a cold remedy had been taken. ... It's used to cook methamphetamine."
No prescription medications appeared to be missing, Salazar said

Although the federal Drug Enforcement Administration is not investigating the theft, or the similar one that occurred in Anaheim, a spokeswoman said Wednesday that the agency was monitoring both cases.

"This is unusual, anytime there is a theft of pseudoephedrine it would cause some alarm," said DEA Special Agent Sarah Pullen. "It will definitely cause us to look into these cases to see if there are other similar crimes or organizations this ties into."
The Nissan Sentra, which was used to smash through the front doors of the pharmacy, appeared to be stolen from Anaheim, Salazar said.

Police officials recovered surveillance video from the store that indicates two people were involved in the theft. Salazar said the video would be released after it is reviewed by detectives.
The Anaheim robbery occurred Tuesday at 12:28 a.m., officials said. In the incident, a car smashed through the doors of a CVS Pharmacy at 1660 West Katella Ave., authorities said.
A white Toyota Camry station wagon was left behind. By Wednesday afternoon, police were unable to locate the vehicle's owner, Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez said.
Anaheim detectives also recovered a videotape of the theft. It reportedly shows a man and woman committing the crime.

"They took a quantity of pseudoephedrine, Claritin and nasal decongestant," Martinez said. "The couple ran out of the store leaving the vehicle behind."
The pair jumped into a waiting red compact car and drove off. It is not clear from the surveillance tape if the red car was the same used in the Whittier robbery, Martinez said.
The suspects in the Anaheim robbery were described as a possibly Latino man, with a moustache, dark hair, wearing a brown shirt and blue jeans and a woman described only as being of medium build.

frank.girardot@sgvn.com
Article from the Whittier Daily News