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COLUMBIA — A Columbia man was arrested early Sunday morning after he told a pharmacist at Walgreens that he had a gun and then demanded painkillers, according to a Columbia Police Department news release.
Police applied for warrants early Sunday morning to detain Ronald Keith Taylor, 47, on suspicion of first-degree pharmacy robbery and armed criminal action, according to the release.
- The suspect, Ronald Keith Taylor, was found in the pharmacy section, ingested with several pharmaceutical pills. Police found no firearms on him, however he was carrying a knife.
- Several heavily armed Columbia police officers secured the Walgreens at Providence Road and Broadway after midnight Sunday. A man inside the store was threatening to commit suicide.
At 11:54 p.m. Saturday, police received a report that a man had a gun inside the Walgreens store at 222 E. Broadway. Upon arrival, officers questioned the store's employees outside in the parking lot and then entered the building.
According to the release, police were told a man entered the store and approached the pharmacy counter where he told the pharmacist he had a gun. He then demanded painkillers — particularly oxycodone and lorazepam — and threatened to kill himself or the pharmacist if refused.
The man then climbed over the counter while the pharmacist ran to the front of the store, telling other employees to evacuate and call 911, according to the release.
When officers entered the store, the man had called 911 from a cell phone, telling dispatchers he had cancer and was in pain, according to the release. The man then continued to warn officers he had a gun and to stay away. While officers talked to him, the man began taking painkillers. At about 12:24 a.m. Sunday, the man fell to the floor and officers arrested him.
He was taken to University Hospital and admitted for treatment. Officers found a large, fixed-blade knife in his possession but did not find a gun, according to the release.
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