13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Police seek man who held up pharmacy

Police seek man who held up pharmacy

Richard Essex/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - Police are looking for a man who robbed three women at gunpoint and tied them up at a pharmacy.

The terrifying ordeal happened in the middle of the day Saturday in Columbus and was all caught on tape.

"The gentleman came through the front door, walked around to here," said Pat Cashen of Doctors Park Pharmacy.

Around the corner, the suspect pulled out a small gun and a large bag, pointing the gun at two teenage girls and a woman working behind the counter.

"They were terrified," said Cashen. "Terrified."

It happened just minutes before the pharmacy was about to close Saturday afternoon. Police say the suspect, believed to be a man in his mid-fifties, walked right into the store, at first asking for a bandage and seconds later making demands, pointing his gun the whole time.

"When he came behind the counter, there were two other clerks back there. He told them to do what he said and nobody would get hurt," said Cashen.

"Obviously a very dangerous one we want to get caught right away," said Columbus Police Lt. Joe Richardson.

Once behind the counter, he ordered his bag to be filled with drugs - hundreds of pills worth thousands of dollars.

"He was after narcotics. He took no money," Cashen said.

But he wasn't done once he filled his sack.

"Now he is asking for car keys and she has gotten them out of her purse and she took the key off the key ring," said Cashen, referring to the surveillance video.

To buy some time for his getaway, the man tied the girls' hands with a heavy-duty plastic cord and forced them into a small fitting room.

"One of them was complaining that her band was on so tight, it was turning her hand blue," said Cashen.

While he was finishing up, a customer came into the pharmacy. Police say the suspect told the customer to wait a minute and someone would be with them.

Police later recovered the car stolen from the employee. If you recognize the robbery suspect, you are asked to call Columbus Police.