Philadelphia Man Charged in Armed Robbery of Brick Pharmacy

Suspects in the armed robbery of the Brick Rite Aid store. (Photos: Brick Twp. Police)

A Philadelphia man was arraigned in federal court this week after being charged by a Brick detective with armed robbery more than a year after he allegedly stole hundreds of oxycodone pills from a township pharmacy.

Kapri Drayton, 24, was behind the armed robbery of the Rite Aid store on Sept. 4, 2016, police allege. The process of catching him took two detectives and some help from the FBI, police said.

Detective Joseph Leskowski of the Brick Township Police Dept. began the investigation while assigned to the FBI Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Force back in Sept. 2016, Lt. Joseph Forrester said.

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The investigation was later turned over to his task force replacement, Detective Robert Shepherd, who is also a detective with Brick Township Police Department.

“These detectives utilized their training, experience and FBI resources to advance their investigation,” said Forester. “This ultimately led to the arrest of Drayton, who is currently lodged in a Federal Detention Facility in Philadelphia.”

Drayton, along with two other men, were involved in the initial robbery, according to reports from the time. They entered the pharmacy, disabled the door and held patrons and associates at gunpoint while stealing prescription narcotics from the pharmacy department. Once they filled a backpack with drugs, the man at the door reactivated the automatic opening mechanism and the group fled.