Grand Saline Burglary Could Be Part Of Bigger Operation

GRAND SALINE—A break-in at the Grand Saline Brookshire’s location Saturday morning could be tied to a suspected pharmacy burglary ring that has struck several small pharmacies throughout East Texas.

Grand Saline Police Department Investigator Leslie Lehmann said she and other law enforcement officials in the area are working with Texas Ranger Sgt. John Vance in a continuing effort to catch those involved in the burglaries.

Lehmann said the Brookshire’s burglary broke from the pattern that had been established.

"Until this previous weekend, no chain store had been hit. They were all mom and pop stores, smaller independent pharmacies," Lehmann said on Thursday.

Pharmacies in Gilmer, Mt. Vernon, Jacksonville, Tyler and Canton and Lindale had been burglarized recently, she added. Economy Drug in Grand Saline was burglarized in the early morning hours of April 28.

No drugs were believed missing in the Grand Saline Brookshire’s burglary, Lehmann said.

A hole approximately 24 inches wide and 39 inches high was discovered to have been cut into the back wall of the building, according to the incident report. The break-in is believed to have happened between 4:06 a.m. and 6:55 a.m., the report stated.

"According to the (surveillance) video we have, they were targeting the pharmacy," Lehmann said.

On Monday, Mineola police arrested two people about one hour after the Medicine Chest, a pharmacy in that city, was burglarized last Sunday night.

Daniel Ortiz, 18, Fort Worth, and Delia Francis Lemos, 25, Garland, were taken into custody. According to a police report, officers detained the two to search their vehicle and found pill bottles that were traced back to a weekend burglary in Coushatta, La., over the weekend.