LIHUE — Pharmacy technician Jadelyn Leones stood frozen as a man dressed in black and wearing a Halloween skeleton mask pointed a gun at her co-worker and demanded that they turn over prescription medications. “He turned to me and told
LIHUE — Pharmacy technician Jadelyn Leones stood frozen as a man dressed in black and wearing a Halloween skeleton mask pointed a gun at her co-worker and demanded that they turn over prescription medications.
“He turned to me and told me not to trip the alarm and not tell or call anyone,” the 20-year-old said. “And if I wanted to call anyone to wait until he leaves.”
Leones said she was terrified during the incident.
“I was all shaky,” she said. “I kind of got hives. Blotchy and red.”
The 42-year-old Kapaa man who allegedly robbed the Kapaa Pharmacy last month was Walter Mills, according to police.
On Sept. 19, a masked man wearing a hoodie armed with a black Colt BB gun walked into the Kapaa Pharmacy and demanded prescription medication including Oxycontin and Oxycodone, according to court documents.
The pharmacist, Robert Knotley, handed Mills the drugs and he fled the scene with more than $1,000 in prescriptions, according to the police report.
“Bob was pretty shaken up,” Leones said. She said she understood because she’s now scared of working weekends herself and her family wants her to quit.
Leones said the man calmly walked out of the pharmacy after asking the pharmacist if the store had a backdoor. They told him it did not.
A customer walked in as the suspect walked out, Leones said.
“We told him we got robbed,” Leones said.
What followed next was a four-day police search for the suspect.
According to video surveillance, a man matching the suspect’s description was seen hopping into a white Toyota pickup truck with distinguishable characteristics — one with a spare tire and tinted windows, according to the police report.
Police ran plates, interviewed witnesses and went to the Lihue Kmart and located a mask similar to the one used in the robbery, according to the police report.
Mills was arrested on Sept. 23 in his home and is held on $500,000 bail.
He was charged with robbery in the first degree and theft in the second degree.
His arraignment date is set for Oct. 15 before 5th Circuit Court Judge Randal Valenciano.
