CORDES LAKES, Ariz. — The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office is looking for two suspects who raided a pharmacy early Monday morning in Cordes Lakes.
The masked suspects pried open the front door of a pharmacy near Stagecoach Trail and Cordes Lake Drive and then busted open a cabinet containing all of the pharmacy's narcotics.
YCSO said it only took the burglars a couple of minutes to raid the business and then leave in a Honda HRV vehicle. By the time deputies arrived on scene, the pharmacy was empty.
The two subjects were dressed in all black and kept their faces covered.
Jason Dykstra owns the pharmacy along with two others in the state under a business known as Northern Arizona Pharmacy. He said this is not the first time one of his stores has been targeted.
“It’s happening all over the state and it’s happening all over the country," Dykstra said.
It started in 2022 when his pharmacies in Chino Valley and Dewey were both broken into the same night. Police say thieves got away with thousands of dollars worth of narcotics and wore gloves and face masks to conceal their identities.
It happened again in January of this year at Cordes Lakes and Chino Valley pharmacies. Officials say two suspects in a silver sedan hit both locations and stole narcotics.
“They're generally targeting smaller pharmacies that are that are independent pharmacies are locally owned," Dykstra said.
Dykstra said each time it happens, it leads to hours of work for him. He has to repair damage, notify insurance and notify authorities like the DEA. But the primary victims are patients who have legitimate prescriptions for those drugs.
“It gets to the point where you start to evaluate, is it worth it to have a pharmacy open if you're going to have to keep dealing with these break ins?” Dykstra said.
Anyone with information about Monday's burglary can call YCSO at 928-771-3260. An anonymous tip can be given by calling 1-800-932-3232.
UP TO SPEED
What is the Valley?:
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.