Crime & Safety
Man Charged in Armed Robbery at South Windsor Pharmacy
Police believe the case is connected to similar robberies in Vernon and other towns.
Deirdre M. Daly, acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced on Friday that David Haney, 52, of Marlborough, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging him with the armed robbery of prescription narcotics from a South Windsor CVS store in September.
Haney was arrested Friday morning in Hamden, she said.
He appeared Friday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis in New Haven and was ordered detained, Daly said.
According to court documents, the charge stems from an investigation into a series of armed robberies occurring at pharmacies in the greater Hartford area and Western Massachusetts. During each robbery, an assailant typically brandished a handgun and proceeded to steal large quantities of prescription narcotics, she said.
According to the criminal complaint, at approximately 7:45 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2013, Haney allegedly entered the CVS at 525 Buckland Rd. in South Windsor and proceeded to the pharmacy counter.
He then asked for the pharmacist by name, showed the pharmacist a firearm that was in his waistband and demanded oxycodone pills, according to the complaint.
The pharmacist gave Haney more than 2,000 oxycodone pills of different strengths and Haney exited the store, according to the complaint.
The complaint charges Haney with interference with commerce through threat of violence and conspiracy, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and possession and conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute.
Daly said that the investigation is ongoing.
The matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the South Windsor, East Hartford, Meriden, Vernon, and Manchester Police Departments, with the assistance of other state and local law enforcement agencies.
Police believe similar crimes in the towns are connected with the South Windsor case. There was a similar robbery in Vernon two Saturday's ago.
Vernon Police Department Detective Lt. William Meier said on Friday evening that the area departments are continuing to work with all other agencies in the case.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony E. Kaplan.
Daly stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.
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