THE CANADIAN PRESS
CALGARY - Police have charged a man in nine drugstore robberies in Calgary over the last three weeks.
Investigators say the recent string of robberies were mainly to obtain the powerful painkiller Oxycontin.
On Thursday afternoon, a robber tried to get the drug at a Shoppers Drug Mart in northwest Calgary, but the pharmacist said no to the demands, so the thief simply left.
Insp. Greg Johnson said the suspect was later spotted at a nearby shopping mall and store security made the arrest after a short foot chase.
Police said it appears he had a waiting van outside and charges may also be laid against another individual.
Joel Jeremy Garry Dupuis, 32, is charged with nine counts of robbery.
Last month, a 34-year-old man addicted to Oxycontin was handed a jail term of nearly nine years for eight pharmacy robberies.
