‘It broke my heart’: Milwaukee-area pharmacies targeted in burglaries

By Kendall Keys

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    MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (WISN) — Thieves got away with cash and drugs at two Milwaukee-area pharmacies. Police are investigating whether they’re connected.

The owner of Swan Serv-U Pharmacy on North Avenue in Wauwatosa said thieves broke into his pharmacy just before midnight Wednesday. Infinity Pharmacy was hit just after 1 a.m. Thursday.

“They broke the glass and they unlocked the door,” Marwa Bakr, pharmacist and owner of Infinity Pharmacy, said.

Bakr spoke with WISN 12 News, while cleaning up shards of glass scattered around her drug store. She said the thieves used a brick door stop to break the glass door, then reached in and unlocked it.

“I check the security camera and I found there’s two guys inside the pharmacy,” Bakr said. “I freaked out. I called 911 right away.”

Surveillance video shows two men behind the counter, ransacking the pharmacy. They took hundreds of dollars in cash and some prescription drugs. Bakr said she had high-risk drugs locked in a safe that they weren’t able to steal. Another security camera shows one of the thieves ripping the cash register from the shelf, then jumping over the counter to make a getaway.

Bakr, emotional, said she’s still in shock by the break-in.

“I work hard in this place and I’m happy when serving the community, so when something like this happened to me, it broke my heart,” Bakr said.

The glass door at Swan Pharmacy in Wauwatosa also had its glass door smashed in.

“My first instinct was just anger. Because it happened again,” co-owner and pharmacist Randy Dawes said.

Dawes said that after multiple other burglaries, including a violent armed robbery in 2016, they made the rare move to stop stocking commonly stolen opioids. Thieves still targeted the pharmacy.

“They don’t know that, even though there’s a sign on the door that says we don’t stock it,” Dawes said. “There’s really nothing that I can do to stop it. But we’ve already had great community outreach. We are part of this community, and they just show up in droves, bring us food and well wishes, and it’s just really a nice response. It makes us feel like we are a part of the community.”

Wauwatosa police said they are aware of both burglaries and are investigating whether there is a connection.

Milwaukee police ask with any information to contact Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-Tips or P3 Tips.

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