A man was chased down, arrested and charged with aggravated robbery after stealing drugs from a pharmacy in Batavia Township Sept. 26.
Donald Ray Hammonds, 32, was charged with aggravated robbery after police found him in the woods near The Batavia Community Pharmacy, located at 2234 Bauer Road.
According to Clermont County Sheriff Tim Rodenberg, deputies responded to the pharmacy where the pharmacist told them that a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt showed a knife and demanded access to the safe behind the counter.
“The subject removed an undetermined number of prescription medications from the safe and fled the pharmacy on foot with the medications,” Rodenberg said.
Rodenberg said a perimeter was set up by deputies and a canine unit was called to the scene.
“While the canine unit was tracking, a male matching the description of the robbery suspect was observed by perimeter units in a nearby wooded area,” Rodenberg said.
Rodenberg said police attempted to communicate with the man and there was a chase on foot.
“The suspect was taken into custody without incident,” Rodenberg said.
Police identified the man as Hammonds and he was charged with one count of aggravated robbery, a first degree felony, and additional charges.
Rodenberg said neither the pharmacist at The Batavia Community Pharmacy nor the customers in the store were injured.
Hammonds had been released from Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections in May on charges of aggravated robbery and possession of drugs.
Hammonds has been incarcerated at Clermont County Jail since his Sept. 26 arrest and is scheduled to appear in court at 3 p.m. Oct. 2 in front of judge George Pattison.