Indianapolis man found guilty in armed pharmacy robberies

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An Indianapolis man was found guilty after a two-day jury trial before Jane Magnus-Stinson, chief judge for the U.S. District Court for Southern District of Indiana, in what prosecutors described as a string of armed pharmacy robberies.

Dexter “Dex” Fisher, 33, was convicted of three counts of robbery and four firearms-related charges, according to a statement Wednesday by Josh J. Minkler, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.

A series of pharmacy robberies occurred along and near Shadeland Avenue on the east and northeast side of Indianapolis in August and September 2014. In each, the suspect would linger in the store until the pharmacy counter was unoccupied. They would then jump the pharmacy counter, brandish a loaded firearm at pharmacy staff and demand opioids.

IMPD responded to a call Oct. 28, 2014, from employees of the CVS at 5925 E. 71st St. reporting a suspicious person in the store. The employees believed he had been involved in a prior pharmacy robbery.

When IMPD officers responded and contacted the suspect — later identified as Fisher — he became agitated and pushed a shopping cart into the responding officer.

Fisher then fled the store through an emergency exit and reached into his waistband, pulling out a loaded handgun. He was arrested in a nearby neighborhood along 71st Street after a brief chase and search.

The firearm and several articles of clothing also recovered along the path — along with Fisher’s fingerprints — were subsequently linked to several pharmacy robberies, including:

• Walgreens, 7506 N. Shadeland Ave., Aug. 4, 2014;

• CVS, 6975 Pendleton Pike, Aug. 18, 2014, and;

• CVS, 1530 N. Shadeland Ave., Sept. 9, 2014.

Fisher lived near 52nd Street and Shadeland Avenue at the time of the robberies, according to testimony at trial. He was out on bond and facing drug dealing charges in Marion County at the time. He pled guilty to those drug charges after his arrest on Oct. 29, 2014.

Fisher faces a mandatory minimum 57-year prison sentence and a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to assistant U.S. attorneys Bradley Shepard and Matthew Rinka. No sentencing date has been set. 

This case is the result of a joint investigation by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s serial robbery unit and the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force.

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