Suspect in Walgreens robbery indicted by federal grand jury
By TIM GULLA Ledger Staff Writer tim@gaffneyledger.com

A 25-year-old Charlotte, N.C., man appeared before a U.S. Magistrate in Columbia on Wednesday, where he learned he will have to post a $125,000 secured bond if he wants to be released while he awaits trial on charges that he robbed two pharmacies, including one in Gaffney last December.

Andy Huynh, for whom no specific address was given by federal prosecutors, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week for armed robbery and weapons charges related to the Dec. 23, 2007, robbery of the Walgreens on West Floyd Baker Boulevard and the Jan. 23 robbery of a Walgreens on Main Street in Lexington.

Huynh is being held at the Lexington County Jail. A booking officer said the jail did not release photographs of federal prisoners and referred questions to the U.S. Marshall's Office, which also does not release photographs except when looking for wanted individuals.

Huynh allegedly carried out the robberies with two other individuals, whose identities have neither been confirmed nor released by investigators. The indictments simply say their identities were unknown to the grand jury.

Both of the robberies involved the theft of narcotic medications, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Columbia, the robbery charges Huynh faces carry maximum sentences of 20 years, while weapons charges carry a maximum penalty of up to seven additional years.

Federal authorities released little information beyond the grand jury indictments. While the case was developed by investigators from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, it was unclear how Huynh was identified and the circumstances under which he was arrested.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston D. Holliday Jr., of the Columbia office, was assigned to prosecute the case.

Huynh's bond hearing was held Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Bristow Marchant.

The Dec. 23 incident in Gaffney began at about 5:40 a.m. when two people dressed in black entered the 24-hour pharmacy.

According to the Gaffney Police Department, which began the initial investigation, one of the subjects pointed a silver handgun at a store clerk and demanded to be taken to the back. The clerk took the robbers to the location of the store's safe, but the robber with the gun replied, "No, the pharmacy."

The subject with the gun then followed the clerk to the pharmacy counter, where he reportedly forced the store's pharmacist, the clerk, and a customer to get down and cover their heads.

Victims told police the robber then went directly to a pharmacy shelf and placed drugs in a trash bag. The robber then told the people inside to wait 15 minutes before they called police.

An employee who was on her break in the break room was walking toward the front of the store when she saw three people running toward the front.

Police had reported the robbers targeted only the drug hydrocodone at the Gaffney store.

Believing the robbers were still inside when they received a 911 call from a customer, police surrounded the building armed with shotguns and other weapons before entering and evacuating the victims.

Gaffney police still have security camera footage of the robbery on their web site at www.gaffneypd.org.