GLEN ECHO, Md. — Montgomery County Police are investigating a disturbing video of an attack on workers at a small mom and pop pharmacy in Glen Echo, Maryland. Lots of small businesses are struggling during the pandemic, but police say the Glen Echo Pharmacy has been robbed and burglarized repeatedly.
It's in a quiet, woodsy, affluent community near the Potomac River, but police think the fact the pharmacy is kind of secluded might have made it a ripe target for criminals.
The latest burglary was early Thursday morning.
Neighbors said the little pharmacy has been around for decades, and noted that the staffers are super nice to everyone, which made video of the second robbery on Nov.12 even more shocking.
The two attackers headed straight to the back of the store, slapping around one worker, forcing another to the floor and sweeping drugs into a duffle bag. Then they lept back over the counter, dropping pill bottles on the floor and scooping them back up, before escaping in a dark-colored car.
"Well I think it's outrageous," one older neighbor who gets all her medications at the store said.
"That's awful, that's terrible," two high school kids hanging out near the store said. "I remember them being really nice people."
In the last year and a half, the little store has been robbed and burglarized four times. The owner said after the first robbery in May 2019 that the criminals have been after Percocet and other pain killers.
Pat Clugston, of Eastern Metallizing, was out Friday trying to beef up security at the pharmacy. He is hoping a thin film he can apply to the windows will make it harder for the burglars to break the windows.
Police said they've arrested three suspects in the robbery a year and a half ago. But they are still looking for men involved in the robbery from November, and they've only just started investigating this week's burglary.
Police are asking anyone with any information to call them. There's a reward up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest.
Workers and neighbors are hoping an arrest will make them feel safe again.
