Man charged in robbery of Town & Country pharmacy

Town & Country police said they have caught the man that on Tues., July 20 allegedly apologized as he took morphine from a pharmacy at gunpoint.  Thirty-nine-year-old University City resident Anthony Phillips has been arrested and charged with armed robbery and armed criminal action.   He is being held on a $50,000 bond.

Police acted on a tip that came in after the suspect's picture and car description were broadcasted on television following the Tuesday afternoon robbery.

Sgt. Chip Unterberg, a spokesman for the Town & Country Police Department, said that the robbery happened around 12:20 p.m. in the 700 block of South New Ballas Road. Goldsmith Pharmacy is located on the first floor.

Allegedly, Phillips walked into the pharmacy with a long rifle that he concealed with a brown rag or towel, and asked for a bottle of morphine. When the pharmacist told the man they did not carry any morphine, the man pulled out a gun.  Unterberg said the suspect allegedly told the pharmacist he knew it would be in the safe and added that he needed it for a sick friend. The pharmacist gave the armed robber a bottle containing 22 morphine pills. 

 Investigators were told that the man was very apologetic for his actions and kept telling them he was "not a bad person."