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St. John's pharmacy robbed at gunpoint

Last Updated: Friday, August 7, 2009 | 2:14 PM NT

Pharmacy employee Mike Hollahan had a gun held to his head Thursday by a robber who made off with powerful narcotics. Pharmacy employee Mike Hollahan had a gun held to his head Thursday by a robber who made off with powerful narcotics. (CBC)

A man demanding narcotic prescription drugs held a handgun to the head of a St. John's pharmacy employee during a robbery Thursday.

Mike Hollahan told CBC News he was working at the Pharmachoice Pharmacy, on Campbell Avenue, Thursday afternoon when a man came in and handed a note to the pharmacist.

Hollahan said the pharmacist was terrified, so he stepped in to help, and the man with the gun handed him the note. It said "I want all the narcotics. I have a gun."

The man, in his late 40s or early 50s, forced Hollahan into the small office where the narcotics are kept in a safe.

Hollahan said he filled two plastic bags with drugs while the gun was pressed to his head. The thief also stuffed narcotics like OxyContin and Percocet into the bags.

Hollahan said that as soon as the bags were full, the thief ran out of the pharmacy.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is investigating.

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