NITRO, W.Va. — A man suspected of a Friday pharmacy robbery in Kanawha County may also be responsible for dozens of similar robberies from West Virginia to Wisconsin.
Police are looking for Deaire Deshawn Brown of Detroit, MI. Brown is believed to be the man who hopped the
counter without warning at the pharmacy of Wal-Mart in Cross Lanes Friday. Once over the counter he made off with a number of pills and bottles which included taking codeine and promethazine from the shelves.
Brown is now wanted in West Virginia, but he’s believed to be leading a small criminal enterprise which has pulled off 78 similar jobs in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and now West Virginia.
Nobody was hurt in the Friday incident and police are still looking for Brown. They did make an arrest Friday in connection of the case. Terrence Matthews, Jr. 23, of Detroit is in a West Virginia. He was spotted in a car fitting the description of one that fled the robbery scene. It was located at a gas station near the intersection of Hurricane Creek Road and Route 817 in Putnam County.
A West Virginia State Police Trooper talked with Matthews who told him that he had been at the Walmart. He told the Trooper that a man at a gas station offered to pay him $100 to take him to Walmart and then Finley, Ohio. According to the to the criminal complaint Matthews waited for the man, whose name he said he didn’t know. He told the trooper that the man jumped out of the car when he realized law enforcement was behind him.
Inside the car the Trooper found a face mask and pantyhose. The mask was similar to the one used during the robbery.
Police were still searching for Brown Friday night.