Suspect in custody

By JIM SCRIPPS

Man in custody in pharmacy robbery

A suspect in the Saturday morning robbery of a Carson City pharmacy is in police custody facing felony charges.

Francis Xavier Pizzo, 34, was arrested when staff members of Medicap pharmacy in the 1000 block of North Curry Street conferred with colleagues at another pharmacy and came up with his name.

The robbery occurred when a man walked into the pharmacy and handed over a note demanding certain prescription drugs, Chief Sheriff's Deputy Scott Burau said. "He had his hand in his pocket, inferring that he was armed," Burau said.

The pharmacist reportedly filled the man's request, putting several hundred tablets - of several types of drugs - into a bag.

"We found out that he had been in the store and the clerk recognized his voice," Burau said. An earlier attempt by the man to fill a prescription was denied by the pharmacist.

By mid-afternoon, investigators, with help from another area pharmacy, had compiled a mug-shot lineup. Workers at Medicap then identified Pizzo as the man who had been in the pharmacy earlier.

Burau attributes pharmacy thefts to drug users more than motivation for money.

"In many cases what you have is users who resort to prescription drugs when they cannot get a fix," he said.

Pizzo is being held in lieu of $20,000 bail on charges of robbery, possession of a prescription drug and violation of bail on an unrelated justice court matter.