Police are hoping someone can identify four suspects who broke into a pharmacy in Fort Worth.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Store security video shows four men in and out of Forest Park Pharmacy within minutes. They got away with thousands of dollars in drugs during a late-night burglary. Fort Worth police fear those drugs could be headed to the streets.
The owners of the pharmacy have always had a dream of helping patients, especially when it comes to affording their medicine. Brad and Glenda Hart do not take insurance at their independently-owned pharmacy, and in many cases, say their customers save money with them.
“We are a little bit different than other pharmacies. We don’t take insurance, and that confuses people because everybody uses their insurance for their pharmacy stuff,” said Brad Hart, “We just charge the price of the medication plus $10.”
Brad Hart and his wife opened their discount pharmacy almost two years ago, but they never expected to be the victims of an organized break-in like the one recorded by their security cameras. At about 1 a.m. on May 7, four masked men broke in. That same night, Glenda worked up until midnight filling prescriptions to have them ready for pick up in time for their customers.
“They busted straight through the glass door, straight through our secondary door, found everything they needed in the back and out in three minutes,” Brad Hart said.
Once inside, the burglars made a beeline for their ADHD and pain medications. They searched drawers, emptied a trash can, and filled it with about $10,000 worth of narcotics, police say. The theft has a huge impact on the pharmacy owners because they purchase their inventory up front. They also say they remain determined to help their customers who depend on them.
“We had to immediately replace those medications because we have patients calling in the next day, all day, looking for their stuff,” said Brad Hart.
Despite the masks worn by the burglars, Fort Worth police hope someone recognizes them. In parts of the security video, you can see part of the faces of the burglars as they move around the pharmacy. Police hope it results in clues about their identities.
“You can tell if you know someone when you look in their eyes,” FWPD Officer Bradley Perez said. “So we’re certainly asking if anybody thinks they know who these people are to reach out to us. We consider them dangerous. I mean, if they’re that organized and structured, going in to commit an offense, then they’re probably that structured and organized to get away.”
Perez said they consider the burglary an organized crime based on the nature of the crime. They are investigating if the same men are responsible for similar burglaries in the past. Police teamed up with Crime Stoppers to offer a cash reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. People who think they know the suspects can call the tip line anonymously. Fort Worth police raised concerns about the number of drugs stolen in this case and the type of prescriptions the suspects took.
“These drugs, they’re probably going to end up on the streets, and we don’t know if they’re going to end up in the hands of children,” Perez said. “We don’t know if they’re going to take these drugs, and they’re going to cut them.”
Just like the police, the pharmacy owners say they hope someone knows who they are.