Investigators arrested Sean Michael Schultz, 26, of Sanford on Thursday and charged him with various counts of robbery and kidnapping stemming from two separate incidents.
Deputies also charged David Lynn Gibson, 26, of Carthage.
"He (Gibson) came in and said, ‘I held up Cooper's Pharmacy -- and I want a lawyer,'" Carter said at a lunch honoring James R. "Chief" Grissom, who retired Friday after a law enforcement career spanning 47 years. The room was full of officers who had spent many hours earlier in the week following leads on two armed holdups at the Vass pharmacy.
The investigation continues, and more arrests could follow depending on where the evidence leads, Carter said.
Evidence obtained from a stolen four-wheeler Schultz allegedly used in a robbery attempt led deputies to him, according to Sheriff Lane Carter.
On Tuesday, June 20, a man masked in a motorcycle helmet entered Cooper's Pharmacy in Vass brandishing a gun and demanding that a clerk give him Oxycontin and money. Instead, the clerk pulled a gun of his own and fired three shots. The suspect fled on a yellow four-wheeler, eventually escaping down the railroad tracks.
Moore County Sheriff's Detective Lt. Richard Talbert followed those tracks himself. Bouncing a four-wheeler over cross ties is "not exactly comfortable," Talbert said Thursday morning.
"We have done it two or three times now on four-wheelers ourselves, searching," he said. "He went right down the tracks. The big thing is the time of day he did it. Most holdups are toward the end of a day, right at closing."
The attempted robbery occurred at 10:28 a.m., according to a sheriff's report. It was also the second of two recent holdup incidents at Cooper's Pharmacy on Old U.S. 1 in Vass.
On April 25, a man entered Cooper's armed with a pistol and demanded drugs, a statement from the Sheriff's Office said. He was described as being short in stature and white, wearing a mask, dark-colored clothes and red tennis shoes.
He fled with a large amount of narcotics. Almost two months later, on June 20, a slim white male wearing a blue motorcycle helmet, white shirt and blue jeans entered the pharmacy. He was armed with a black pistol and demanded money and Oxycontin.
"We determined the man was not from Moore County," Carter said after investigators went to Harnett County.
On Monday, June 26, deputies with the Moore County Sheriff's Office and Vass Police Department located a yellow four-wheeler matching the description of the one the suspect was seen riding, according to Carter.
That four-wheeler was found to have been reported stolen in Harnett County on June 19, according to the statement. It was just the break investigators needed.
"Following leads from the recovery of the stolen four-wheeler, investigators developed a suspect and recovered some of the narcotics stolen from the first robbery," the statement said.
Schultz was charged with one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one count of felony second-degree kidnapping for the April 25 incident. He was also charged with one count of felony attempted robbery and one count of second-degree kidnapping for the June 20 incident.
Schultz is being held in the county jail on a $25,000 secured bond. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.
Deputies charged Gibson with one count of armed robbery, one count of attempted robbery and two counts of kidnapping. Gibson's bond was set at $50,000 secured. His first court date is scheduled for July 17.
John Chappell can be reached at 783-5841 or by e-mail at jchappell@thepilot.com.
