Police are hoping store surveillance video help them capture a suspect who used a bomb threat to rob a local pharmacy.
The suspect is a white man, 40-50 years old, about 5 feet, 5 inches in height, slender build, short brown hair, no facial hair. He was wearing prescription-type glasses, green jacket, and green camouflage baseball type cap.
Charges could include possession/delivery of a possible bomb with intent to terrorize and threaten, a five-year felony and/or $3,000; and armed robbery, a felony punishable by up to life in prison.
According to police, a suspect approached the Krogers’ pharmacy department on Sashabaw Road at Maybee Road, 6:20 p.m., Jan. 20. He placed a package on the counter, said it was a bomb, and demanded prescription pain-killer medication.
Employees gave the robber what they had and the man fled the store, leaving the package on the counter and threatening to detonate it remotely when police arrived.
Employees called police and evacuated the store. Responding deputies assisted in the evacuation and set up a perimeter around the property.
The package was contained in an open plastic bag, and looked credible enough to call for Michigan State Police Bomb Squad.
Bomb Squad officers from Northville Crime Lab looked at the package and decided to inspect and disassemble it remotely using a robot. Finding the device wasn’t explosive, they took it to sheriff’s department crime lab for analysis.
A county K-9 police dog unit tracked the suspect from the store east to a nearby subdivision, ending on Everest Street north of Maybee Road.
Also, a deputy’s car out of Springfield Township assisting at the scene caught fire, at 6:50 p.m. It was an electrical fire inside the engine compartment. Deputies disconnected the battery and extinguished it.
The store reopened at 10:25 p.m.
Anyone with any knowledge of this case are asked to call 1-888- TURN-1-IN, 888-887-6146.