DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — It took just over one minute from the moment suspects hopped over the counter inside Nasser's Pharmacy to the moment the suspects left. However, the owner said the frighting moments felt much longer.
The masked men yelled demands for everyone to get on the floor and pillaged through the Dearborn business for narcotics. Owner and pharmacist Ahmed Nasser explained what was going through his mind at the time.
"I have to just give them whatever they want because I don’t know what their intention is," he said. “You can’t risk anything or make a mistake and lose your life for something stupid."
He said when the men initially entered, one of them acted as if he had a prescription that needed to be filled. Soon, they hopped the counter.
“They were demanding for like promethazine with codeine," Nasser recalled.
He said the robbers didn’t present any weapons, but he didn’t want to take any chances.
“One of my friends, he works in downtown Dearborn, they robbed that pharmacy like three weeks ago," Nasser wondered if there's a connection.
Pharmacist Nadia Haidar, who owns Nadia’s Pharmacy on Warren Avenue in Dearborn, said four people burglarized her business last year overnight. However, they soon learned she doesn’t carry controlled substances. Haidar has a sign on the door explaining that, and she’s since put in a security gate.
“I don’t know why it’s happening in this community specifically, but there’s a lot of pharmacies here (in the Dearborn area) and that’s probably why," she reasoned.
Haidar said the burglars took "all Pedialyte and children’s antibiotics.”
“They threw it out in the parking lot," she recalled.
Another pharmacist over on Ford Road said they're glad 7 Action News is doing this story.
This morning, 7 Action News called and later stopped by the Dearborn Police Department to ask if they’re seeing a rise in pharmacy robberies, what exactly thieves want with the drugs, and also to confirm if a fourth person was caught in Wednesday’s robbery. Police haven't returned the messages yet.
Nasser said he's taking steps to beef up security including the installation of a bullet proof glass at the counter. He put it in the day after the robbery. He said businesses getting robbed is "a sad reality."
If you have any information on any of these incidents, call Dearborn police at 313-943-2241.
