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Painkiller Thief Made Getaway In Waiting Cab, Police Say

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 21, 2008

TAMPA - An Illinois man accused of stealing painkillers from a pharmacy enlisted an unusual getaway car: a waiting cab, police said.
Tampa police charged Anton Ziherle, 22, of Park Ridge, Ill., with felony robbery on Monday after the heist at Walgreens, 315 W. Platt St.

Ziherle was being held at Orient Road Jail on Tuesday with bail set at $7,500.

Police said Ziherle used a cab to take him to several locations Monday night, including the Walgreens about 9 p.m.

There, he used a note threatening the staff and demanded and received an unspecified quantity of the painkiller oxycodone, according to a preliminary report.

The cab driver, who was not identified, was waiting outside for Ziherle and had no knowledge of the robbery, police said.

Once Ziherle left the pharmacy, the driver took him to the La Quinta Inn at 4811 N. U.S. 301.

Police teamed up with Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies and arrested Ziherle, whom they saw throwing evidence out a third-floor window of the hotel, the preliminary report states.

No other details were available about how police tracked Ziherle, his other movements that evening or what the discarded evidence was.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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