Police found Wilkinson at his home in Aberdeen. They said it appeared that he had attempted suicide.
Officers took him to FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition Tuesday. Police could not serve a warrant on Wilkinson while he is under a doctor’s care.
Police had sought Wilkinson for two robberies of local drug stores. The first robbery occurred Saturday at Kerr Drug in Carthage, where a quantity of the drug OxyContin was stolen. The second occurred Monday at 12:50 p.m. at Eckerd Drug on N.C. 5. The suspect again is accused of stealing Oxycontin. The robber told employees that he was armed, police said.
Police found Wilkinson’s driver’s license at Eckerd.
Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie said Kerr employees had identified the armed robber prior to the second robbery.
Kerr Drug pharmacist Marshall Sweat and employee Kristy Rouse told investigators that a white man entered the business about 5:04 p.m. Saturday. They said he asked questions about Oxycontin tablets, then brandished a black semiautomatic handgun and demanded that Sweat give him the Oxycontin.
Sweat said the two bottles taken by the robber contained about 130 tablets. The pharmacist told officers that the suspect placed the pill bottles in his back pants pocket, put the gun away and ran toward the front of the store.
Lt. B. Davis responded and, with help from the Moore County Sheriff’s Department and the Whispering Pines Police Department, began an investigation. McKenzie said the Sheriff’s Department arranged a photo lineup, and Sweat and Rouse picked out the suspect
Oxycontin is the latest painkiller that is being abused and causing trouble for physicians and law enforcement officers, the chief said.
Six Arrested: Southern Pines police arrested five local men and a juvenile in connection with two robberies that occurred Dec. 31 and Jan. 16.
Henry M. Miles and Antwoine D. Taylor are each charged with six counts of armed robbery, two counts of first-degree burglary and two counts of kidnapping.
Korey McLeod, Jerrard Lee Smith, Courtney Wade and the juvenile are each charged with two counts of first-degree burglary and two counts of kidnapping.
In the Dec. 31 robbery, police said, six persons, one of whom was armed with a handgun, entered a hotel room at 650 U.S. 1 South and robbed the four occupants of their personal property.
On Jan. 16, according to police reports, two men entered a residence at 589 Shaw Ave. in Southern Pines and robbed the home and two occupants. Miles and Taylor are charged with that crime.
Con Game: Beware of callers telling you that you have won a sweepstakes prize, Whispering Pines Police Chief James Mabe says.
Mabe said last week that he had learned of a con game in which the “sweepstakes winners” are asked to send money to an address in Canada in order to secure their prizes.
“One woman in Whispering Pines sent $2,000 out in the mail,” Mabe said. “We learned about it and were able to catch up with the envelope in Fayetteville and return the money to the woman.
“A good thing to remember is that, if somebody offers you something that’s too good to be true, it’s probably not true.”
