Break In At Bruderheim Pharmacy
Two masked thieves broke into the Bruderheim Pharmacy around 3:40 a.m. on Friday May 31.
They gained entry by backing their vehicle into the front doors and walking inside the building.
Owner/Pharmacist Ehab Mohamed was asleep at his home in Edmonton when police called him about the break in.
“The police were here and we went through the videos. They (thieves) smashed the doors open with the back of their truck and stepped into the building,” said Mohamed.
Mohamed keeps trays filled with empty vials, which the thieves used to fill with medications and threw them into the back of their truck. The entire robbery took approximately 10 minutes with physical damage to the shop limited to the front doors and counter.
“They stole lots of medications I don’t think they will benefit from,” Mohamed added. “Like antibiotics. I’m not sure what they will do with them. Maybe they figured they will steal everything and look at it later. They stole 600 amoxicillin (penicillin) capsules. They tried to open the till but they couldn’t.”
The Bruderheim Pharmacy keeps very minimal opioids in stock, citing these prescriptions are filled by special order and are picked up nearly as soon as they are delivered to the pharmacy.
Although the pharmacy is still doing medication counts and getting information to their insurance company, they are operating business as usual today.
“We are still filling prescriptions today, if we have it,” said Mohamed.
Mohamed added the thieves not only covered their faces but also covered their hands making it difficult to identify by way of security footage. The police arrived approximately 30 minutes after the alarms sounded.
Mohamed insisted this robbery will not discourage him from keeping his business in Bruderheim, although he is looking at further security options for his shop including, metal poles by the front door and possibly security shutters for the windows.
“We were planning a barbecue to celebrate our second year in business here for June 29. That may have to be postponed a little while,” he noted.
Editors note: this is an eye witness account only. Information is not from an official police report.
Written by: Jana Semeniuk
Twitter @jana_semeniuk
news@threesixtyalberta.com