He robbed 2 pharmacies in 1 day seeking a drug known as ‘purple drank,’ police say

A man who police say robbed two pharmacies and tried to break into a third in search of a prescription cough syrup popular on the black market was arrested Thursday, Fresno police reported.

He was identified as Irwin Foster, 51, who reportedly robbed the Vista Pharmacy in the 4200 block of East Tulare Street and the Medicine Shoppe in the 2400 block of East Gettysburg Avenue on Monday after trying to break into the Medicine Shoppe in the 200 block of East Olive Avenue earlier in the day.

In the Tulare Street robbery, police said, Foster pushed a technician to the ground, causing her to strike her head and sustain major injuries as he took several bottles of promethazine. He fled in a dark-colored vehicle. In the Gettysburg robbery, the suspect was armed with a small pair of scissors as he demanded what he called “Norco.” He took an undisclosed number of bottles of the drug from that store.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer reported in October that the drug is relatively inexpensive in pharmacies, but that it sells for large markup on the street, where it is known as “purple drank,” “sizzurp” and “lean.” The drug led to the downfall of several National Football League players, including former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

This story was originally published January 19, 2018 at 1:09 PM with the headline "He robbed 2 pharmacies in 1 day seeking a drug known as ‘purple drank,’ police say."