Man Charged In 2016 Brick Rite Aid Armed Robbery: Police

BRICK, NJ — A Philadelphia man has been charged in connection with a 2016 armed pharmacy robbery in Brick Township, police said Saturday.

Kapri Drayton, 24, was arraigned in federal court on Friday on a federal charge of armed robbery in the Sept. 4, 2016 armed robbery at the Rite Aid pharmacy on Burnt Tavern Road, Brick Lt. Joseph Forrester said.

In that robbery, three men, two armed with handguns, went in to the Rite Aid at 1041 Burnt Tavern Road and while one kept watch at the front door, the other two went to the pharmacy at the rear of the store, jumped over the counter and demanded several types of prescription narcotics that they then loaded into a backpack before running out of the store. Several thousand opioid pills were stolen, Forrester said.

According to federal court documents filed in the case, Drayton is accused of being the man who kept watch at the front of the store while the other two stole demanded the prescription narcotics.

The complaint against Drayton, which was filed in December, alleges he pulled a black and chrome semiautomatic handgun from his waistband and ordered the cashier and customers waiting in line to get on the ground, then locked the front doors of the Rite Aid.

The complaint, signed by Brick Detective Robert Shepherd, alleges the two who went to the pharmacy demanded to know where the Percocet was kept, and after the pharmacist opened the cabinet, took various bottles of pills. They also asked for promethazine with codeine, and took eight pint bottles of the liquid, which is prescribed as cough syrup. Codeine is an opiate; promethazine is an antihistamine; it's sometimes called "drank," "purple stuff" or "sizzup" on the streets, according to the National Institutes for Health.

Forrester said the arrest of Drayton began with the investigation started by Brick Detective Joseph Leskowski while Leskowski was assigned to the FBI Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Force in September 2016. It was turned over to Shepherd when he replaced Leskowski on the task force, Forrester said.

"These detectives utilized their training, experience and FBI resources to advance their investigation," Forrester said.

Drayton is being held at a federal detention facility in Philadelphia, Forrester said.

The federal complaint filed by Shepherd did not indicate whether the other two men have been identified.

• Brick Police Release Photos Of Trio In Armed Robbery At Rite Aid
• Rite Aid Robbers: New Photos From Brick Police

Photos provided by Brick Township police