Pharmacy robbery was a blur
From the moment he saw the gun, time seemed to lose meaning for pharmacist Kent Wilson.
In truth, the entire incident happened in a flash. Two minutes, tops.
But in the moment, in the fear and the adrenaline rush, it was hard to know how much time had passed, he says.
“It happened really quickly,” said Wilson, who was confronted by an armed bandit on Oct. 2 while working at the Tremont Medical Pharmacy in St. Catharines. “It is kind of a blur.”
It was around 4:20 p.m. when the man in the red and white striped shirt walked into the pharmacy across the road from the Pen Centre shopping mall.
It’s a busy time of day for the pharmacy, Wilson said. The waiting room in the attached medical centre starts to fill up with patients for the afternoon walk-in clinic. Many of them will end up filling their prescriptions at the pharmacy after being seen by the doctor.
The man in the striped shirt demanded narcotics. He lifted his shirt to reveal a gun tucked into the front of his pants.
“He never pointed it at me,” said Wilson. “But when you are confronted by someone with a weapon, it’s frightening.”
Wilson did what he was supposed to do, following the pharmacy’s policies and the policy of his professional association. He handed over the drugs without arguing with the robber.
The bandit fled, and then Wilson locked down the store.
The actual robbery happened so fast that patients in the clinic were unaware anything was amiss until they heard Wilson shout.
“I was waiting and reading news on my phone about the shooting in Las Vegas when I heard someone shout ‘Call 911! Lock the doors!’” said Martine Esraelian.
Esraelian said she never saw the bandit, but Wilson’s shout caused a minor storm of activity. The doors connecting the clinic and the pharmacy were closed and locked. Patients were moved away from the pane-glass windows at the front to the back of the clinic.
Within moments Niagara Regional Police officers arrived.
“They arrived very quickly,” said Esraelian. “I think the pharmacist deserves credit for acting so quickly to make sure everyone was safe.”
Police say the bandit is still at large. Along with the striped shirt, he is reported to have been wearing a black baseball hat turned backwards, sunglasses and light grey track pants with a dark stripe, and dark running shoes.
He was last seen running through the parking lot of the Pendale Plaza.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 905688-4111, ext 4286 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. glafleche@postmedia.com Twitter: @grantrants