A 48-year-old rural Princeton man turned himself into authorities last Thursday for what was reported to be the armed robbery the day before of the  Thrifty White Pharmacy in Princeton.

The man, Thomas Ernest Stein, now faces three charges—the most serious one being felony second-degree aggravated robbery, which has a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine. 

Stein’s other charges are theft of a controlled substance and theft of property or services valued $250-$500. The maximum penalties respectively for the two charges are 10 years and/or $20,000; and one year and/or $3,000 fine.

Princeton police received the robbery call at 6:21 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 16. An officer who was just leaving the Princeton police station, went to the scene and looked around on foot for the suspect who had fled the Thrifty White. 

Another officer soon joined the search and a Sherburne County police dog was brought in to try to pick up the scent of the robber who had gotten away with cash and drugs out the back door. The suspect had entered the same door, which is located next to the alley and walked past the pharmacy counter to the cash register, asked for the pharmacist’s name and told her to get all of the narcotic, OxyContin, and some drug patches and place them into a bag. 

A cashier told police that the suspect had one of his hands in a coat pocket, causing her to believe he had a gun. 

The criminal complaint also states the suspect told the cashier he “did not want to pull it out and that she would be the first one to get it.”

The two other employees there began to retrieve oxycodone, a form of OxyContin, from a locked drawer and place it in a bag. 

Both are schedule II controlled substances. 

The cashier told police the suspect demanded money as well from the cash register, and the cashier placed that into the bag with the pills.

The suspect demanded the employees hurry and swore at them, according to the complaint.

After the robbery, the suspect fled the pharmacy while employees locked the door and called 911. The police dog followed a scent for a time before losing it in the parking lot of the former grocery store situated against the north end of the alley.

Turns self in

Princeton police sergeant, Joe Backlund, received a message at about 6:24 p.m. on Thursday, almost 24 hours to the minute after the Thrifty White robbery, that a man had come to the Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Department admitting he had robbed the pharmacy. The man was Stein.

A Milaca city police officer had Stein in her patrol car in Milaca when Backlund arrived.

According to the criminal complaint: 

Stein told Backlund that he had been under the influence of alcohol and Lorazepam at the time of the Thrifty White robbery, and  felt guilty the next morning about the crime. Stein also stated that he did not want to have to worry about the police coming for him.

Stein, in his statement, said that he did not have a weapon on him during the robbery, but “thought he might have had his hand in his jacket pocket.”

Stein took officers to a park where he said he had dumped the bag that held the stolen money. Police could not locate the bag by the time the criminal complaint was written but said they would search again in daylight. 

Stein took officers to the home of his brother where Stein is living and it was there that officers located the clothing he had worn during the incident. Officers located four oxycodone bottles in a garbage can in the garage. Stein stated he had flushed all the pills down a toilet. 

Stein’s bail was set at $100,000 unconditional, and $3,000 conditional. 

The amount of drugs taken during the robbery was 346 tablets of oxycodone (10 mg. each) and 441 tablets of oxycodone (20 mg. each). Total value of drugs was $1,246.69. The amount taken from the cash register was $372.