AUGUSTA — Police are investigating a pharmacy robbery Monday at the Shaw’s supermarket on Western Avenue.

Augusta police Lt. Christopher Massey said that around 12:25 p.m., a man approached the pharmacy counter and passed a threatening note to an employee demanding OxyContin pills. Massey said the man, who didn’t show any weapon, was given pills before fleeing the store. Nobody was injured.

Additional Photos

Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal Kennebec County Deputy Aaron Moody, left, follows his dog on a track with Augusta Police Officer Christopher Hutchings, center, and State Trooper Dane Wing after the Osco pharmacy inside Shaw’s was robbed Monday afternoon in Augusta.

The man was described as in his mid-20s, wearing a hooded jacket or sweatshirt and weighing between 140 and 165 pounds, with a short, scruffy beard.

Augusta Deputy Chief Jared Mills said a police dog tracked the robber to a nearby parking lot, but the man wasn’t found. He said police are seeking only one suspect, but they aren’t ruling out potential accomplices.

Mills said the store was full of shoppers at the time, and detectives were seeking witness interviews and physical evidence.

Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland said with Monday’s robbery in Augusta and a pharmacy robbery Thursday in the Washington County town of Milbridge, Maine has had nine pharmacy robberies this year. That’s compared to 54 pharmacy robberies in 2012.

Of those 54 robberies, nine were in Augusta — more than any other city or town in Maine. But Monday’s pharmacy robbery was Augusta’s first this year since Jan. 22, when the CVS Pharmacy on Stone Street was robbed.

Michael Shepherd can be contacted at 370-7652 or at:mshepherd@centralmaine.comTwitter: @mikeshepherdme

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