Star Drug narcotic burglar caught

 

Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Santa Ynez resident Dec. 27 for the burglary of the Star Drug Company.

The burglary occurred on Dec. 22, when a then-unidentified suspect broke two front windows at the drug store and swiped its entire stock of narcotic medications. The stolen narcotics included multiple bottles of Vicodin, Oxycontin, Ritalin and Morphine.

 

As the result of a search warrant, the suspect, 26-year-old William Morrison, was arrested at his residence in the 200 block of White Oak Road in Santa Ynez. Police recovered the majority of the stolen medications, which had an estimated street value of $100,000. Morrison was booked into the Lompoc City Jail on various charges, including burglary, possession of stolen property and possession of narcotics for sale.

 

“It was imperative that we got these drugs off the streets,” said Public Information Officer Alex Tipolt. “These were heavy duty narcotics. They are currently being held for evidence.”

On the night of the burglary, police received a call from an anonymous person who claimed to live near the drug store and reported that the alarm had been going off, but during the investigation detectives discovered that the alarm company did not receive a call from the drug store the night of the break-in.

 

Neighbors also said they didn’t hear or see anything suspicious. Deputies checked nearby residences, but the search didn’t turn up any conclusive evidence.

In a statement to police, Steven Reden, owner of Star Drugs, said that he was perplexed as to why the alarm did not sound. It was later found that the phone connection had been unplugged.

Prior to the arrest, police received a report Dec. 23 that a woman was being taken to Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital and was suffering stomach pains after she had consumed four pills that were given to her by a stranger at the Maverick Saloon the night of the incident.

 

The woman could not give a clear description of the person who gave her the pills but said he was a white male, about 5-feet 11-inches tall and weighed about 165 pounds. The woman said she thought the pills were morphine. She explained that she was pretty “wasted” and was not thinking straight.

The doctor at the emergency room believed that the woman had ingested Oxycontin.