Man Exonerated as New Suspect IDed in CVS Holdups

Lawrence Township police announced today (July 11) that a suspect has been charged in connection with the robberies that took place at two CVS Pharmacy branches earlier this year, and that criminal charges have been officially dropped against another man who was previously taken into custody as a suspect following the first holdup.

The new suspect was identified by police as Ernestas Kazlauskas, 23, of Myrtle Avenue, Lawrence Township. According to published accounts, Kazlauskas is also a suspect in multiple pharmacy robberies and thefts in New York State.

Lt. Mark Ubry, a township police spokesman, said Detective Kevin Reading Jr. charged Kazlauskas on June 29 with two counts of armed robbery, two counts of theft of prescription medication and related weapon offenses in connection with the holdup of the and the .

In each case, police have said, the robber was given a bottle of Oxycodone pain killers after he showed a demand note to a pharmacist. In those notes, the robber allegedly threatened that he was armed with a gun, but no weapon was seen during either holdup, according to police.

On May 4 Lawrence Township police, acting on witness statements and other information gathered up to that point, .

But on June 27 the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office formally dismissed the charges against Albertson, Ubry confirmed today.

Kazlauskas is currently being held at the Dutchess County (N.Y.) Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail in connection with the two CVS robberies in Lawrence, Ubry said.

Kazlauskas is also being held in lieu of a separate bail amount following his arrest on June 21 in  Dutchess County, N.Y., where – according to published news accounts (see here and here) – he is accused of stealing Oxycodone during robberies at a Walgreen’s pharmacy and a Rite Aid pharmacy in the Town of Pughkeepsie; stealing two vehicles in the Town of Hyde Park; and trying to rob another CVS pharmacy in Hyde Park.