Thousands of drugs stolen from family pharmacy

CINCINNATI (WKRC) – Thieves ransacked a local pharmacy early Friday morning and made off with thousands of dollars worth of narcotics.

The burglary forced Schaeper’s Pharmacy on Northside to close for several days due to damage.

Owner and pharmacist Richard Schaeper says it took just two minutes for three people to break inside and flee with a bin full of narcotics.

Surveillance cameras outside and inside the store captured the crime. The suspects had their heads covered and their hands gloved.

Schaeper claims they stole $15,000 from his small pharmacy, some of which was fentanyl.

“This is obviously not a drug to be used on the street,” Schaeper said. “We need to catch these people before they ruin everyone’s lives.”

Schaepher says it’s scary that this happened, but he’s grateful no one was there when it happened.

He says he is upset that some of his inventory will likely be sold on the street.

“You can obviously overdose on these drugs,” he said. “People are dying every day from fentanyl.”

The thieves knew exactly what they were looking for and where to find it. They pocketed what they wanted and threw away what they didn’t.

Schaper tells Local 12 that many pharmacies are organized in the same way.

He says even though they were forced to close, they did everything they could to help their customers, from dropping off medications to opening the pick-up window they had previously set up during the pandemic.

“It’s obviously very difficult to counsel people, you know, when they’re used to seeing us and coming in,” Schaeper said. “It’s certainly disrupted patient care, and you know activity is down a little bit and people are apprehensive about coming into a place where someone broke in the night before or whatever.”

He said this is the fourth burglary in 40 years at the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Chase Avenue. It’s the second where the thieves took drugs.

“Now I bought a brand new safe, thicker and heavier, so I hope this will do the trick.”

He says the last thing he wants to do is board up his windows.

“I don’t want to be an eyesore on the neighborhood. I want to be a family-friendly place,” he said. “We’re not just talking about medications, we’re talking about everyday life, our friends and family, and their dogs coming in for puppy treats. We miss all that, that’s why we’re here. We appreciate it.”

A detective working on the case told Local 12 that the group was suspected of another burglary the same night, 40 miles away in Blanchester, Ohio.

Schaeper says that from what he has learned, the thieves are probably not local.

“The DEA is now involved and they also said there was a very similar set of circumstances in St. Louis.”

Schaeper hopes to be able to welcome customers back into the pharmacy tomorrow.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (513) 352-3040.