Police explore possible link between Walgreens pharmacy robberies in East Bay

DANVILLE Calif. (KTVU) - Police in Lafayette and Danville are looking into the possible connection between a pair of robberies at Walgreens pharmacies. 

The crimes happened on Monday, about an hour apart, and in both incidents, three men wearing hoodies jumped over the pharmacy counter and stole medication. 

One robbery occurred at Walgreens located in the Danville Town and Country Shopping Center around 7:45 p.m.

"Three males entered the Walgreens store on San Ramon Valley Boulevard. And they forced an employee to open up a safe that had medication in it and forcibly stole that medication," Danville Police Department Chief Allan Shields told KTVU by phone.

Shields said the suspects had no visible weapon and no one was injured but they used physical force to get the medication. 

It unclear what type of prescription drugs they stole. 

"It's not something we see regularly. Danville is a very safe community," the police chief said.

Only 45 minutes before that incident, a similar incident happened about 11 miles away at a Walgreens in Lafayette on Mount Diablo Boulevard.

The suspects were also three men wearing hoodies. 

One of them reportedly shoved a pharmacist and grabbed pills from behind the counter. 

"We are speaking with the Lafayette police department and working with them to determine if they are connected and if they are we will work those cases together," said Danville Police Chief Allan Shields. 

He said detectives are looking for similarities involving other cases around the Bay Area.

In Palo Alto, police are still searching for the burglars who smashed the window at a Safeway pharmacy in the middle of the night on Jan. 10. 

There's a $10,000 reward officer for information leading their arrests. 

The suspects in the latest robberies appear to be in their 20s, authorities said.