(Greendale, Ind.) - An addiction to painkillers may have led a Florida man to rob the Walgreen's in Greendale last weekend.

Joshua Blakeslee, 21 Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center

According to a court affidavit, Joshua Blakeslee went into the store at the intersection of State Road 1 and U.S. 50 on Sunday, Dec. 5.

Just minutes earlier, the Walgreen’s pharmacy had received a phone call from pharmacists at the Kroger store in Cleves, Oh. saying a man had attempted to rob them but had been spooked off. Blakeslee, 21, later admitted to being that robber.

“Blakeslee kept his hands in his coat pockets and told her to give him some OxyContin and no one would get hurt,” a Walgreen’s pharmacist told Greendale Police in the affidavit.

The Middlesburg, Fl. Resident fled the store after being given about 200 pills. 

Blakeslee was stopped by Greendale and Lawrenceburg police as he drove from the scene on U.S. 50 towards Lawrenceburg. Officers found a large amount of pills in plain view inside the car.

He ingested some of the stolen pills before his arrest and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.  Addiction to painkillers led to his decision to attempt to rob the two pharmacies, said Blakeslee, who was visiting a friend in Indiana as he tried to sober up.

Blakeslee is now held at the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center on charges of Robbery, Theft, and Possession of a Controlled Substance. He was ordered held on $200,000 surety and $5,000 cash bond.