3 charged with attempted robbery of Crown Point pharmacy

Three men and a teenage boy have been charged with trying to rob a CVS Pharmacy last week in northwest Indiana.

Authorities were called at 4:14 a.m. Thursday about the attempted robbery at the store at 2272 N. Main St. in Crown Point, Indiana, according to a statement from Crown Point police. Three people walked into the store and a 14-year-old boy wearing a surgical mask handed a pharmacist a note that read, “This is a robbery, I am armed and I will shoot so do as I say, I need Oxycodone and Percocet.”

The boy and one of the men then jumped over the counter and began searching the shelves while a third suspect tried to distract other employees, police said. After a few minutes, the two behind the counter jumped back over and all of the suspects ran out of the store and drove off in a tan car with dark tinted windows. No weapon was actually shown during the robbery.

A short time later, an officer spotted a vehicle matching that description near 94th Avenue, followed it and pulled it over near Main Street and 95th Avenue, police said. Three of the vehicle’s four occupants matched the descriptions of the robbery suspects, and they were all taken into custody.

Markell D. Graves, 18; Gerald E. Hatcher, 18; Mark A. Secrest, 24; and the 14-year-old boy were each charged with one count of attempted armed robbery and one count of attempted robbery, both felonies, police said. All four are from Indianapolis.

The three men were transported to the Lake County Jail while the boy was taken to the Lake County Juvenile Center, police said.