Masked Gunman Steals Painkillers From Clinic

A masked gunman stole boxes of painkillers at a Rossmoor medical clinic Saturday morning after locking one of the employees inside a bathroom, Orange County sheriff’s officials said.

Two employees at the Centers for Family Medical Care in the 3400 block of Katella Avenue told sheriff’s deputies that they were opening the clinic doors at 8 a.m. when the armed robber tried to enter the building, Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Paddock said.

One employee said she went to open the clinic rear door when she heard a knock in the back. Upon opening the door, a man wearing a dark ski mask and armed with a silver revolver ordered her into the building and locked her inside the bathroom, Paddock said.

The gunman then grabbed keys to a cabinet stocked with medicine and took off with four boxes of Demerol, a pain reliever, also known as an ingredient used in manufacturing drugs.

The workers were unharmed, and police said it is unknown whether the gunman was a clinic employee.

“That’s one thing we’re looking into,” Paddock said. “Either he knew where he was going or someone else at one time told him where to go. All we know is that he didn’t bring in the key and it would be a reasonable assumption to say he knew where he was going.”

The man was described as white, 6-foot-1, about 250 pounds and in his early 30s. He was last seen wearing a dark ski mask, a white T-shirt under a plaid shirt and blue jeans.

Sheriff’s investigators ask that anyone with information on the robbery call (714) 288-6741.