East Ridge Police responded on Thursday at 11:31 p.m. to reports of a robbery at the Walgreens Pharmacy at 5301 Ringgold Road.
A white male, later identified as 21-year-old James McCormick of East Ridge, had entered the pharmacy and presented a note at the pharmacy counter demanding Oxymorphone and Fentnayl. The note stated that the employees would be killed if they did not provide the medication. Witnesses advised that McCormick told the pharmacy workers “to get them quick or he would start shooting employees and customers and kill himself”. He also placed his hand in his pocket in such a way as to suggest that he was armed. The pharmacy workers handed McCormick approximately $1,500 worth of Fentnayl, and he fled on foot.
East Ridge patrol officers arrived at 11:32 p.m. and observed McCormick running north on McBrien Road. Police engaged in a foot pursuit of McCormick and took him into custody behind a nearby house as he was attempting to ingest the stolen medication.
McCormick is scheduled to appear in East Ridge Court on Feb. 10, on an aggravated robbery charge. He is being held on a $75,000 bond.