Vigilante pharmacist nabs robbery suspects

By Janine Jobe of The Montana Standard


Note to would-be robbers: Don't smash the fingers of a Butte pharmacist in his computer.

The determined store owner-pharma cist and a clerk helped thwart an armed robbery Wednesday afternoon, by purs ing the fleeing suspects in a high-speed car chase on Butte's West Side.

`` When he slammed my fingers in the laptop, that really upset me,'' said Peter Wolfgram, owner of Driscoll Drug, 327 S. Excelsior. `` After that, there was no way he was getting away.''

And he didn't.

Minutes later a man and a woman were arrested as police converged on them several blocks north -- aided by directions given to them via cell phone by the quick-thinking clerk.

Jailed in connection with the robbery are Justin David Brown, 25, of Silver Bow Homes, and Jo Ann Knapp, 47, of 119 Janney Rd. Both people are expected to be charged with robbery, with Brown getting the additional charge of obstruc tion of justice, according to law enforcement.

The excitement started around 3:30 p.m., when clerk Paul Houseman said he looked up from behind the phar macy counter. He saw a large man wear ing a black and red jacket with a hood pulled up on his head walk into the store. His face was not covered.

Houseman was busy with inventory and didn't notice the man again until he stood beside him and pushed a note into his hand.

`` He just forced himself behind the counter and was right there, pushing up against me. I was telling him he couldn't be back here,'' Houseman said. `` He handed me this note that said `Have gun. Give me Oxycotin 80.''''

The man had his hand in his pocket like he had a gun, but never showed one, Houseman said.

Oxycotin is a powerful prescription painkiller.

Wolfgram sat nearby doing inventory on a laptop as the man followed Houseman over to the shelves of drugs.

`` I had no idea what was going on,'' Wolfgram said. `` Houseman shows me this note, and at first I didn't realize what it meant. Then I realized what was going on.''

Wolfgram attempted to get up from his stool and that's when the robber slammed the laptop lid on his fingers.

`` The guy was really agitated,'' said pharmacy tech Jeanette Howe. `` We just wanted him out of here.''

When the man -- with a bottle of Oxycotin in his hand -- fled out the front door, Wolfgram followed. Houseman ran out the back door.

`` They were parked along the side of the building and when I saw Peter jump in his truck, I was right in there,'' Houseman said.

Wolfgram thinks the alleged robbers didn't know they were being followed until they reached a back parking lot at Montana Tech.

`` That's when they really stepped on it,'' Wolfgram said. `` Dirt and gravel were flying.''

The car careened down Park Street, and police closed in.

`` At first I saw two cops cars and then there were like 10,'' Houseman said. `` I didn't know we had that many cops in this town.''

As police boxed the car in near Park and Excelsior, the man who had given the note to Houseman leapt from the vehicle and ran.

`` The police had guns on him and he still made a run for it,'' Wolfgram said.

He was tackled a short distance later by police, said Sheriff John Walsh.

The woman driver was arrested with out incident, according to reports.

Complaining of injuries, the man was taken to St. James Healthcare for exam ination. No officers were injured and no police vehicles were damaged.

Walsh was cautious about endorsing citizens chasing suspects.

`` I'm not going to say it's right or wrong, but he did it, and he was instru mental in helping police apprehend the suspects,'' he said.

Wolfgram said that not seeing a gun played a part in his decision to chase the alleged robber.

`` If I knew he had a gun, I probably would have given him a little more dis tance,'' he said. `` But the police were wonderful. They couldn't have been bet ter. There were right there and they knew what they were doing. It was like one of those cops shows on TV.