Pair charged with stealing, selling 3,000 pills from pharmacy

MONROE-Two former 19-year-old employees at Eckerds Pharmacy have been charged with stealing as many as 3,000 pills of OxyContin, Vicodin and hydrocodone and then selling them on the street. The three narcotics are used to relieve pain and can be habit-forming. They are legally dispensed by a doctor's prescription. Police Chief Dominic Giudice said the investigation began on De. 13 when Monroe Police received an anonymous call on the department's TIPS line (492-TIPS). The caller said two people told her teenaged son that they worked at the Lake Street pharmacy and could get OxyContin, Vicodin and hydrocodone if he wanted any. Using that information, police contacted Eckerds' loss prevention unit, which did an audit at the pharmacy. That audit, police said, showed that 3,000 pills had been stolen. On Feb. 10, police arrested Michael J. Hallinan and Daniel Sichler, both 19 and both from Monroe. Police said they told investigators that they kept about 500 of the pills for personal use and sold the rest throughout the area. Hallinan was charged with one count each of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, both felonies, and released on $2,000 cash bail. Sichler was charged with the one count each of fourth-degree gand larceny and third-degree criminal posession of a controlled substance, both felonies. He was sent to the Orange County Jail on $2,5000 cash bail. Both young men were due in town court this week to answer the charges. Police also said the two are no longer employed at the pharmacy.