Police: White Jetta seen at robberies

The robber responsible for at least two of the armed robberies carried out at pharmacies in the Rutland area may have been driving a white Volkswagen Jetta, State Police said Wednesday.

In robberies at the Rite Aid in Rutland on Dec. 31, and drug stores in West Rutland and Whitehall, N.Y. on Jan. 5, witnesses reported that a lone gunman in his early 20s entered the stores and demanded OxyContin and oxycodone — powerful painkillers — before fleeing on foot.

But police investigators have long suspected that the gunman relied on more than fancy footwork to get away.

On Wednesday, State Police reported that the gunmen may have been driven away from the CVS drugstore robbed in that community by another man behind the wheel of a white Jetta circa 1993 to 1998.

State Police in Vermont reported that a man who was in the area of the Whitehall robbery saw a white Jetta with two men in the vehicle parked "suspiciously" on a street directly next to the pharmacy in a loading dock area.

Police believe the gunman responsible for robbing the CVS in Whitehall is the same assailant who later held up the Rite Aid pharmacy in West Rutland on the same night.

State Police said the Jetta seen at the Whitehall robbery was square shaped with no aftermarket body add-ons and no outstanding marks or rust.

The man behind the wheel of the Jetta was tanned with dark mid-length hair that curled at the ends, clean shaven and possibly in his early to mid 20s.

The gunman involved in the Whitehall and West Rutland robberies is described as roughly 18 to 20 years old, clean shaven with a baby face. Witnesses told police the gunman is between 5 feet 11 inches and 6 feet 3 inches tall with closely cropped dirty blond to brown hair.

Anyone with information about the car or the suspects is asked to call Detective Sgt. Albert Abdelnour at 773-9101.