Suspect arrested in pharmacy holdup

Nov, 24-2009 10:35 am

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP – A 36-year-old local man was arrested shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21 and charged with holding up a local pharmacy and possession of the drugs reportedly taken in the robbery.

At 4:04 p.m., township police received a call reporting an armed robbery at the MediCap Pharmacy in the 300 block of East Jimmie Leeds Road, across the street from the Galloway Township Police Department.

It was reported that a white man entered the pharmacy and demanded OxyContin and Xanax while stating he had a gun.

He was given an undisclosed amount of medication and fled on foot, police said. Witnesses reported seeing the suspect enter a purple Toyota parked in an adjacent business parking lot. The vehicle headed west on Jimmie Leeds Road.

Officer Raymond Casanova reportedly observed the vehicle a short distance from the scene.

Several officers converged on the vehicle where it was stopped on Jimmie Leeds Road between 4th and 2nd avenues.

The man, Stephen J. Vitkow, 36, of Galloway Township was taken into custody after a brief struggle.

Vitkow was charged with one count of robbery, possession of stolen property and possession of OxyContin and Alprazolam (Xanax). Bail was set by Municipal Court Administrator Roseanne Lugg at $150,000 cash.

An investigation is ongoing and anyone with information should call Detective Christopher McGinty at (609) 652-3705, ext. 325.

Vitkow was taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center for treatment of a wrist injury sustained during the struggle, police said. He was then transported to the Atlantic County Justice Facility.

Three adults and two children were in the pharmacy during the robbery. No one was injured there and no weapon was recovered.