The man who robbed the Gardiner Rite Aid store on Wednesday calmly walked to the counter and demanded drugs but grew impatient as employees prepared the pills.

Those details were revealed Thursday in a surveillance video released by Gardiner police.

Chief James Toman said police continue to search for the man responsible for the robbery, which occurred at 2 p.m. at the Rite Aid at 9 Spring St.

The nearly 30-second video shows the man walking to the pharmacy, leaning over the counter and apparently demanding what Toman called “a narcotic substance” from the pharmacist. The white man, estimated to be about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, is dressed in dark shoes, dark pants, dark winter gloves that appear to have a rip in the right middle finger, and a dark hooded sweatshirt with writing on the front. The man also is wearing what appears to be a white bandanna across his face.

About halfway through the encounter, the robber begins to wave his arms in an apparent attempt to hasten the work of the pharmacist, who is not visible until near the end of the video, when she hands a bag to the robber. He then turns quickly and runs down an aisle. Another employee visible in the video appears to continue her work calmly throughout the robbery.

Toman said the robber fled the store on foot before apparently getting into a vehicle waiting for him in a driveway on Spring Street. Toman said the getaway car is a green two-door Pontiac Sunfire.

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“The vehicle was last seen heading west on Spring Street,” Toman said.

Maine State Police are assisting his department in the search. Toman asked anyone with information about the robbery to call Gardiner police at 624-7076.

It’s the first robbery at the Gardiner pharmacy since August, when police nabbed a suspect after searching the woods along Harrison Avenue on the day of the robbery. Jesse Mansir, 31, of Randolph, pleaded guilty to the robbery in federal court in October. A teenager was charged in a separate 2012 robbery at the pharmacy.

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @CraigCrosby4


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