Spokane7
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April 29, 2009 in City
Two men wanted in prescription pill burglary
An overnight prescription pill heist at a Spokane health clinic may have been solved partly because of a stolen cell phone left near a broken pharmacy door.
Two Spokane men are wanted for the burglary last month at the Community Health Association of Spokane Clinic on North Maple Street, the last of five drug-related burglaries that have hit the organization since last summer, records show.
Dale J. Chodorowski, 22, and Anthony D. Barton, 20, face charges for the most recent burglary on March 2, according to an affidavit filed last week in Spokane County Superior Court. The stolen phone led investigators to the pair, but police have yet to solve the other four burglaries and remain uncertain whether they’re connected.
In each incident, the culprits smashed a lower-level window, then pried open a door to access the pharmacy, but they weren’t always successful.
The clinic lost more than 10,000 Hydrocodone, OxyContin and oxycodnone pills during the first burglary on July 28, followed by more than 3,800 Oxycodone and OxyContin pills last November.
Nothing was stolen during two February break-ins. In the latest burglary, though, thieves made off with more than 2,400 Hydrocodone and Clonazepam - an anxiety medicine - pills, according to a police report by Spokane police Detective Brian Cestnik.
The burglaries are a quieter alternative to the high-profile OxyContin-related robberies that prompted extra security at pharmacies and loan stores earlier this year. Clinic employees, who did not return phone calls seeking comment, have since updated the security system, police said.
“So far, nothing else has happened,” Cestnik.
But will another pill-seeking burglar hit elsewhere?
“If we can get a couple of these guys in jail, they’ll realize we’re putting a little extra effort to try to find them,” Cestnik said.
A cell phone left near the pharmacy door led Cestnik to Barton and Chodorowski.
The phone’s owner told him she thought the two had stolen it, and phone records, including a stolen phone claim filed the day of the burglary, backed that claim, according to the police report.
That woman also told police Barton and Chodorowski showed her pills stolen in the burglary and said they were selling the Hydrocodone for $5 each, the report shows.
Two other witnesses told investigators the same thing, according to police.
The Spokane police gang unit will likely look for Chodorowski and Barton today.
Chodorowski’s criminal history includes convictions for minor in possession of alcohol and drunken driving; Barton’s criminal convictions include a burglary charge for stealing and pawning his grandmother’s wedding ring, court records show.
Anyone with information on Chodorowski or Barton’s whereabouts is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.
Meghann M. Cuniff can be reached at (509) 459-5534 or at meghannc@spokesman.com.
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sunkissedcutie on April 29 at 10:42 p.m.
I read articles like these and it makes my blood boil… I am glad to see the Law enforcement is tracking the culprits here… What I don’t understand is the mentality of the criminals… Easy Money? Is it worth the Risk? What about those of us who have to take some of those meds you stole on a whim to make a buck… I don’t understand the High of these Pills.. Don’t they realize that it makes it increasingly harder for people such as myself that use them as prescripted to help eliminate some of the pain to keep us active and moving in our communities… To be apart of helping and not the problem as these idiots who steal for the heck of it… I wish there was a way the criminals that do this could have the pain of those that require these medications.. not for a day but for a whole week… Live in our bodies and deny them the medication.. I know its nothing but fantasy on my part… But if I could do it I would make this their punishment and let them see what they are doing to others… I think repeat offenders of stealing narcotics should be put to death by the same narcotics they are stealing let them get the ultimate high and then answer to a higher court yet… Just a citizen voicing an opinion in writing… I sure hope the Law Enforcement can find these people… It sure makes it harder on the pharmacies and the patients that require these medications… Thank you for letting me voice my opinion….