A West Newton man armed with a plastic gun and a hammer robbed a North Huntingdon pharmacy of 10 bottles of a painkiller Monday evening, but he was caught hiding in a wooded area a short time later.
Joseph Peter Carilli, 32, of 113 N. Second St., Apt. 104, was being held Tuesday at Westmoreland County Prison after he failed to post $50,000 bond.
North Huntingdon police charged him with robbery, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and simple assault. The incident occurred at Norwin Pharmacy on Route 30, near the North Huntingdon Square Shopping Center.
In a criminal complaint, Detective Sgt. Jeffrey Bouldin said Carilli entered the pharmacy around 6 p.m. He wore all black clothing, including a bandana that covered his face.
Carilli jumped over the counter and approached the four pharmacists on duty, demanding oxycodone pills, the complaint states. He allegedly yelled at the employees: "You're going to die!"
"We thought the gun was fake, but you never want to take that chance, so we gave him what he wanted," a manager, Iris Stewart, said yesterday.
Stewart was assisting the lone customer in the store when the incident occurred. No one was injured, she said.
An employee was able to call police during the robbery, leading to a quick response by officers.
Carilli ran into a wooded area near the Giant Eagle behind the pharmacy and was caught after he was tracked by Sgt. Kari Bauer's K-9 partner Vegas, police said.
"He didn't get very far," Stewart said. "The police did their job very well."
Authorities recovered 917 30-milligram oxycodone pills, valued at $1 apiece. Carilli, though, already ingested an unspecified number of tablets, according to the complaint.
North Huntingdon District Judge Douglas Weimer scheduled a preliminary hearing for Sept. 21.
