A 49-year-old man was hospitalized Tuesday at University Hospital after ingesting narcotic painkillers allegedly stolen during a robbery of a downtown pharmacy.
Salt Lake police Lt. Phil Kirk said another 40-year-old suspect was also involved in the robbery.At 5:11 p.m., two men armed with a hammer and a butcher knife entered Robinson Medical Mart, 508 E. South Temple, and demanded cash and prescription painkillers, Kirk said.
After taking the drugs and cash, the two suspects fled on South Temple to 600 East, where they "roughed up" a woman sitting in her car at an intersection. The suspects stole the woman's station wagon and fled south down 600 East, Kirk said.
The suspects then led police on a chase through the city before crashing into another car at 1700 South and Main Street. Nobody was seriously injured in that crash, Kirk said.
Two men were eventually cornered in an industrial area at 2700 South and 600 West. Before the men were taken into custody by police, the 49-year-old suspect apparently ingested some of the stolen drugs hoping to destroy evidence, Kirk said.
Police recovered the stolen car, some of the drugs and cash, but were unable to find the weapons used in the robbery, Kirk said.