A Bristol Township man addicted to painkillers has been charged in Sunday’s armed robbery of a Middletown pharmacy after parents at his child’s school recognized his vehicle and the Philadelphia Eagles gear he was known to wear, police said.
Police said they started getting leads on Jeffrey Eberhart’s identity after releasing information about the crime including surveillance footage of the robbery.
Nearly all the callers said that they recognized Eberhart, the father of a Bristol Township elementary student, because he “always” wore Philadelphia Eagles jerseys and hats and drove a maroon and gray Dodge pickup truck.
A Bristol Township police official also contacted Middletown police, saying he was “certain” that was Eberhart in the surveillance footage, according to the affidavit.
Eberhart, 46, of Horseshoe Lane, was arrested and arraigned early Tuesday on five counts of robbery with threat of immediate injury, simple assault, terroristic threats and related offenses. He was sent to Bucks County prison in lieu of 10 percent of $50,000 bail.
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| Jeffrey Eberhart |
Middletown police say Eberhart entered the Oxford Valley Pharmacy in the 1200 block of Woodbourne Road Sunday afternoon, pulled out a loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun and demanded employees hand over OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller.
Employees and customers in the store had their hands raised as Eberhart, who wore an Eagles jersey and baseball hat, pointed the gun around while waiting for the drugs, police said. He took a 100-count bottle of 80 mg OxyContin pills and a second bottle of an unknown amount of 30 mg OxyContin pills together valued at more than $200, according to a probable cause affidavit.
No one was injured, police said. He left the store and was seen getting into a full-size maroon and gray Dodge pickup truck parked at the edge of the shopping center, police added.
On Monday, a 1995 full-size maroon and gray Dodge pickup truck, registered to Eberhart, was found unattended and parked at Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol Township, police said.
Shortly before 10 p.m. Monday, police said Eberhart admitted to committing the pharmacy robbery and said that the gun he had was loaded with at least nine bullets.
He also admitted to wearing the number 89 Eagles jersey during the robbery and told police where they could also find the coat and sunglasses he also wore, according to the affidavit.
Police said that Eberhart also admitted to a more than 20-year addiction to prescription painkillers such as OxyContin.
Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia
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