Charges in drugstore holdups

Detectives said Thursday they've made an arrest in a string of bank and pharmacy robberies in southwest Suffolk County, but they're still looking for one of the getaway drivers.

In the thefts, cash and prescription drugs, including OxyContin and Vicodin, were stolen at gunpoint during the pharmacy stickups in West Babylon and West Islip, police said.

Police said they arrested a getaway driver, Gerald Ott, 25, on Jan. 13, and tracked down the gunman, whose name wasn't released, at a Pennsylvania motel on Jan. 17.

When investigators went to the motel, the suspected gunman was unconscious because he had overdosed on drugs, said Det. Lt. Robert Edwards of the First Squad detectives, which handled the case.

The gunman remains in extremely critical condition and has not been charged, authorities said. Police did not identify him.

Police believe the now-unconscious man also robbed Path Pharmacy in West Babylon in August and Belmont Pharmacy in West Babylon earlier this month. Cops are still looking for the getaway driver in those robberies, Edwards said.

Ott, of 1461 12th St., West Babylon, is charged with two counts of first-degree robbery in connection with the stickup of the Aldo Pharmacy in West Islip in November and the Belmont in August. He's also charged with third-degree robbery in connection with the holdup of the Chase Bank branch in West Babylon on Jan. 7.

Edwards said detectives were able to close the case because of "information from members of the community;" he declined to elaborate but said there was other corroborative evidence.

Police said they did not immediately publicize the arrests because they were continuing their investigation.