Pharmacy Robbery Leads to High Speed Chase - FOX 54 WZDX – Huntsville News, Weather and Sports

Tuesday night, investigators continued to piece together the details of an armed robbery that led deputies on a high speed chase through Madison County.

It started at a New Market pharmacy and ended in Gurley.

Outside New Market Discount Drugs, a crime scene stayed active for much of Tuesday afternoon, where investigators say four men robbed the store at gunpoint. Inside the pharmacy, shaken up employees and customers spent hours answering questions.

Madison County Investigator Brent Patterson says, "We have a lot of witnesses in here, and it's important to our investigation right now that we document what they saw."

Pharmacy owner Billy Poe says, "I'm just glad everyone's ok. They did exactly what they needed to do which was give 'em what they wanted, and let the sheriff's department do the rest."

Poe left the store right before the robbery, but rushed back after an urgent phone call from his employees. He adds, "They were very shook up, sure were."

After firing at least one shot inside the store, authorities say the robbers ran off with prescription pills, and more than $100 in cash. Then, a high-speed chase ensued. Patterson explains, "All over the county. I mean, we've got different scenes everywhere. We've got a large crime scene."

Deputies finally caught the suspects an hour later on Highway 72 in Gurley, near the Jackson County line.

Poe is pleased they're now in custody, but doesn't know what else he can do to protect his pharmacy in the future: "Seems like every time I get robbed I add another piece of equipment. I don't think I can add anything else."

Instead of beefing up security, he feels the problem needs to be fixed at its root: dealing with the prescription pill problem plaguing the country. Poe explains, "It's an epidemic, and there's not much we can do about it; the doctor writes the prescriptions, we have to fill them."

Poe says another problem is repeat offenders, suspects arrested on robbery charges, who are too quickly released from jail. He says a nearby gas station and dollar store have also been recent robbery targets.