Pharmacy owner recounts attempted robbery over drugs

Days after a woman was arrested and charged with attempting to rob a Hermann pharmacy, the man who stopped her spoke with ABC 17 News.

Frank Meyer is the owner of Berlerner’s Health Mart in Hermann.

Last Thursday, he said he and his employees were held at gunpoint, but it wasn’t cash the suspect was after.

“We had an armed robber come in asking for all of our oxycodone and came up to the counter and pointed the gun at each one of my employees and told us to get our hands up or they’d shoot us,” Meyer said.

That’s when he threw the suspect, Jennifer Marrero, to the ground and held her there until police arrived.

ABC 17 News has reported on the opioid crisis sweeping the nation for years.

As a pharmacist, Meyer says dealing with the ongoing issue is troubling.

“It’s really been a bad experience,” Meyer said. “The opioid pain medications really do a phenomenal job at stopping the pain, but they’re super addictive and we’ve seen a lot of our customers become, or have become addicted to them.”

Marrero is expected in court Wednesday morning.