New Details Emerge in Painkiller-Fueled Pharmacy Robbery

A search warrant application has revealed that demand for painkillers was behind the September in Springfield Plaza. New details have also emerged about how a car crash lead police to a suspect in the case.

Around 10 p.m. on September 9, a white man approached the pharmacy and handed the pharmacist a note demanding specific doses of two painkillers, Opana and Hydromorphon. The note said that the man had a gun, according to the application filed by Fairfax County Police Detective Aniello DeSantis.

"I need them, I have a gun," the robber demanded. When the pharmacist tried to retreat inside the pharmacy, he chased her inside, yelling, "You don't want to die over this."

While the pharmacist told the robber she didn't have Hydromorphone, she did have the brand name of the drug, Dilaudid. After getting the Dilaudid and taking the Opana from a safe, the robber fled.

Police responded minutes later and began searching the area. But their search was interrupted by another incident--the report of a car hitting a telephone pole and transformer on the 7500 block of Oriole Avenue. Oriole Avenue, south of Springfield Plaza, is about a five minute drive from the pharmacy.

Police found the car's alleged driver, Michael Charles Johns Jr., nearby. 

"He was in obvious need of medical attention," DeSantis wrote. While police waited with the man for an ambulance, they realized he matched the robber's description. The pharmacist also recognized him as the robber. Johns was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

One of the crime scene detectives photographing the vehicle noticed a Dilaudid bottle in the car.

When DeSantis tried to interview Johns in the hospital, Johns asked for his lawyer, before adding that it didn't matter because he was going to prison anyway, according to DeSantis.

A later search of the car turned up, among other items, the Dilaudid bottle and a CVS receipt for Oxycodone, another painkiller.

Johns has been charged with robbery, failure to stop after an accident, and second-offense driving while intoxicated. A hearing in the case is scheduled for November 7 at 2:00 p.m.