Last week, the New York Times reported on a surge in armed pharmacy robberies. The story focused on Maine, but the trend is nationwide: More than 1800 times in the past 3 years, people seeking opioid painkillers have held up drugstores.
Westport is no different from Bingham, Rockland or Lewiston, Maine — or Satellite Beach, Florida; North Highlands, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma, also cited in the Times story.
Last Friday, a knife-wielding man robbed CVS of the prescription painkillers Fentanyl and Duragesic. It was 5:45 a.m., and he escaped out the back door, a few steps from the pharmacy.
It’s no secret that some Westporters rely heavily on painkillers — whether they need them or not.
Now, it turns out, our town is not immune from the secondary effects of opioid addiction either.
A photo of the armed robber in the CVS store. The man is described as 5-5, approximately 200 pounds. If you have information about the crime, call the Westport Police at 203-341-6080.
Actually what a lot of these “thieves” do is sell the pain killers. Apparently there is a ring of elderly Flordians who get prescriptions from several doctors and supplement their social security checks by selling to residents to West Virginia. Why that state is a mystery to me but that is the black market. Perhaps our CVS robber is selling to New Canaanites?
Senior Center?
New Canaanites? This happened in your town, Westport should fix their drug problem.
Huh, the guy robs a CVS in Westport and we have a drug problem?
Westport has a huge drug problem…I’d say one of the worst in Fairfield County in my opinion
And you are an authority, how?
Yeah Westport has a drug problem. Howeve, since,”the green” is not “the green” anymore I think the problem has gotten a little better. As far as making it better? I really don’t know how to fix it. Maybe to avoid a repeate of the recent CVS robbery, the pharmacy department should have a set up like banks with windows at the counter and just a slot to give and take meds
The problem may lay with the doctors who prescribe countless pills to facilitate their patients’ wishes without real concern for their health. It may be an exaggeration but the deaths of Ledger and Jackson came from legal prescribed drugs not the illegal kind.