This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City police believe they have ended the career of a serial drug store robber with an arrest over the weekend.
Police Detective Robin Heiden said Monday that the suspect is believed to have held up at least four pharmacies in the past week, where he presented threatening notes and made off with a variety of painkiller medications.
He struck twice on Saturday, first hitting a Rite-Aid at 2332 E. 2100 South, about 20:30 p.m., and then a Wal-Mart pharmacy, about 6 p.m., at 350 W. Hope Avenue. In both robberies the suspect was described as a white male, about 6-foot-2, in his mid-30s to mid-40s, thin in build and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, sunglasses, a baseball can and tan pants and boots.
It was a Wal-Mart security guard who finally proved the bandit's undoing, Heiden said. The guard, alerted to the holdup, kept the man in sight and directed SLCPD officers to where they were able to take the 40-year-old suspect into custody, near 1300 South and 300 West.
The suspect, a California man, was being held without bail Monday after being booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of first-degree felony robbery.
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