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Man accused of stealing 2,700 pills
Published August 19, 2009
SOCIAL CIRCLE — More than 24 bottles totaling more than 2,700 painkillers have been recovered and a suspect is in custody following a break-in at a local pharmacy last week.
Social Circle Department of Public Safety officers have arrested Steven Daniel Cruce, 27, of 310-B Knight St., Monroe, and charged him with burglary stemming from the Aug. 9 incident.
According to police reports, officers were called out to Social Circle Pharmacy on Bateman Drive about 10:30 p.m. When officers first arrived they noticed the front left window to the business had been damaged and reportedly began securing the scene and looking in the immediate area for evidence. Officers reportedly noticed a small pill bottle on the sidewalk outside the pharmacy and recovered a baseball hat as well as a head rag from the parking lot.
While no suspect was found in the immediate vicinity, later in the evening officers did recover a plastic bag with pill bottles about 100 feet away from the pharmacy in nearby bushes, according to reports. Pills recovered included morphine sulfate, hydrocodone, oxycodone and other narcotic medicines.
A surveillance camera at the business showed a man break the window and enter the business through the broken window, according to reports. The suspect then made his way toward the drug cabinet, opened it and allegedly began to “rake” drugs from the cabinet into what appeared to be a large plastic garbage bag. The suspect then left the building the same way he entered it and turned right, according to reports.
SCDPS officials said on Aug. 12 they received information through an anonymous tip made through 911 related to the burglary. Investigators began following leads which eventually led to the Cruce’s arrest at his Monroe home.
“I would like to commend the hard work of our investigators in getting this crime solved in a timely manner,” SCDPS Chief Steve Shelton said. “I would also like to extend my thanks to the Monroe Police Department for their assistance in arresting our suspect.”
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