3 indicted in Walgreen's robberies

Three Charlotte, N.C., men were indicted by a federal grand jury last week in connection with two separate robberies of Walgreen's pharmacies.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, 24-year-old Christopher Ryan Hayes and 32-year-old Thippasone Phanasouk were indicted for the Dec. 23, 2007, armed robbery of the Walgreen's on West Floyd Baker Boulevard in Gaffney while Hayes and 32-year-old Stephen B. Tandy were indicted for the separate robbery of a Walgreen's in Lexington on Jan. 23.

A fourth man, 25-year-old Andy Huynh of Charlotte, was previously indicted last April in connection with both robberies. The U.S. Attorney's Office said Huynh has since pleaded guilty though it was unclear if he had been sentenced.

When Huynh was indicted last April, a grand jury determined Huynh had carried out the robberies with two other individuals, whose names were then unknown.

The Gaffney Police Department started the investigation last December after three robbers made off with an unspecified quantity of narcotic drugs from the pharmacy during the early morning crime. That incident began at 5:40 a.m. when two people dressed in black entered the 24-hour pharmacy and one of the robbers pointed a gun at a store clerk and demanded to be taken to the back.

When the clerk initially led the robbers to the store office, one of the robbers replied, "No, the pharmacy."

Two workers and a customer then were forced to the ground as one of the robbers placed drugs from a shelf in a trash bag. Another worker returning from a break subsequently saw three men flee the store.

Investigators said the robbers stole the drugs hydrocodone and oxycontin, both of which are controlled substances.

There was no immediate word on when Hayes and Phanasouk would be in court on the Gaffney robbery charges.