Arrest made in Sunday pharmacy robberies

A New Hampshire man has been charged with robbing a pharmacy in Sanford Sunday evening, and authorities believe he may be responsible for two similar pharmacy robberies on Sunday.

Jed D. Cameron, 31, of Wolfeboro, N.H., was arrested Monday and charged robbing the Hannford Supermarket pharmacy at about 5:40 p.m. Sunday. Police say he entered the store, demanded drugs, and fled after pharmacy workers handed over an undisclosed quantity of prescription narcotics.

The first robbery on Sunday took place at about 9 a.m. at the Rite Aid Pharmacy at 465 Main Street in Westbrook. Chief William Baker said in a news release that a white male, between 20 and 30 years old, standing 6-feet-tall with a "gaunt" face, entered the store, presented a note indicating that he had a gun, and demanded prescription drugs. Police said the man fled after he was given an "undisclosed amount of prescription drugs."

The second robbery took place at about 2:40 p.m. Sunday at the Shaw's Supermarket at 91 Auburn Street, in the Northgate plaza. Portland Police say a white male standing nearly 6-feet-tall entered the store's pharmacy area and demanded prescription drugs. In this incident, he fled the store without stealing any drugs, Lt. Gary Rogers said.

"It's highly unusual to have three pharmacy robberies in one day," Rogers said, adding that the suspect's description was similar in all three incidents. "We kind of have to consider that they are related but can't be sure at this point."

Sanford Police Chief Thomas Connolly Jr. said a Hannaford employee followed the suspect to his car and took down a license plate number, which was how police were led to Cameron.

“Detective [Sarah] Roberts worked through the night doing the legwork that ultimately lead to this arrest. She was in contact with NH police agencies and was able to positively identify the suspect through a NH booking photo taken in February 2010," Connolly said in a statement.

Although Cameron has not yet been charged with any other pharmacy robberies, he's been named as a suspect in the Westbrook incident. Connolly said in a telephone interview that Cameron is "probably good for all three."

Cameron was arrested Monday by Wolfeboro Police on a Maine warrant. He is currently being held at Carroll County Jail, in New Hampshire while he awaits extradition to Maine.