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Man Charged In 5 Pharmacy Holdups

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 20, 2008

  Patrick Papach

CLEARWATER - The man charged with robbing five pharmacies in the Tampa Bay area for drugs - and suspected of robbing three more - has told authorities the narcotics were for his own use, Pinellas County Sheriff's Office authorities say.

Investigators, however, are not sure that's the whole story, said sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha.

They did believe Patrick Papach, however, earlier this year when he told them online gambling debts were the reason he stole more than $54,000 from a company where he worked temporarily as an accountant, Pasha said.

As to why he stole roughly $6,345 from a different company where he also worked temporarily, Papach, 33, never provided a reason, Pasha said.

On Thursday, Papach was identified as the suspect in the string of pharmacy robberies. He was found at 1126 King Arthur Court in Dunedin, at a condominium neighbors said was owned by his girlfriend's mother, and was arrested on a Hillsborough County warrant charging him with armed robbery.

In that case, the Publix pharmacy at 8975 Racetrack Road in Tampa was robbed Aug. 13, said Hillsborough sheriff's Detective Lisa Haber. A gunman pulled a firearm and demanded Oxycontin, she said.

On Friday, Pinellas sheriff's investigators filed charges against him in connection with four other holdups.

In one, Papach is accused of robbing St. George Pharmacy, 31201 U.S. 19 N., in Pinellas County on July 15. Video shows the robber pointing a handgun at employees and a customer as he orders them to the floor, Pasha said. He also fired a shot into the ceiling.

After obtaining undisclosed types and amounts of drugs, he left through the front door, the video shows, stopping briefly to retrieve a hat, the spokeswoman said.

Tip Led Detectives To Papach

At least one victim in that holdup feels relieved now that Papach has been identified and arrested.

"I feel very secure," said Charles Brimmer. "I've pretty much been on guard since the event happened, so I definitely feel a lot better and a lot safer."

On Aug. 29, Papach robbed a Target pharmacy at 900 East Lake Road, Oldsmar, Pasha said. Papach approached the pharmacy, implied he had a weapon and showed a note to the pharmacist, demanding drugs, Pasha said. The pharmacist complied. Papach fled with an undisclosed amount of drugs, Pasha said.

Detectives say he also robbed a Walgreens at 1477 Main St., Dunedin, on Jan. 21 and a Walgreens at 33670 U.S. Highway 19 N., Palm Harbor, on Feb. 15.

Investigators were led to Papach after receiving an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers on Wednesday, Haber said; the information allowed detectives to discover Papach's identity.

They put together a package of photographs and showed them to the victim in the Racetrack Road robbery who identified him as the culprit.

Late Thursday, detectives executed a search warrant at the Dunedin condominium and found a gun Papach told them he used in the robberies, they said. The firearm is described as a 9 mm Smith & Wesson with laser sight.

Authorities say Papach will be charged with three additional robberies.

He has been named a suspect - but has not been charged in - pharmacy robberies at the Armenia Pharmacy, 8338 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa; Publix Pharmacy, 12139 Linebaugh Ave., Tampa; and Sweetbay Pharmacy, 13016 Racetrack Road, Hillsborough County.

Suspect Was Out On Bail

At the time of some of the holdups, Papach was out on bail in connection with two alleged embezzlement schemes, according to Pinellas court records and Pinellas sheriff's officials.

In April, he was arrested on charges he electronically transferred into his own bank account more than $54,000 from the accounts of Kelby Media Group of Oldsmar, where he worked temporarily as an accountant, Pasha said.

Papach told authorities he needed the money to pay online gambling bets; detectives looked into his story and it checked out.

In a different case, he is accused of stealing $6,345 from Nova Hotel Renovations and Construction, where he worked as an accountant after a temporary service found him work there, court records say.

Tribune reporters Josh Poltilove and Elaine Silvestrini and WFLA reporter Rod Challenger contributed to this report. Stephen Thompson can be reached at spthompson@tampatrib.com or (727) 451-2336.

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