Cops Derail Prescription Drug Theft at Miller's Pharmacy

, aided by surveillance tape from , were able to get to the bottom of a recent theft of 200 Ritalin pills from the township apothecary.

Miller's Pharmacy owner told Wyckoff Patch that "a person known to the Pharmacy who was desperate for pain medication... gained entry into the pharmacy before it was open but while it was staffed."

Miller said the man used a "ruse" to distract pharmacy employees and snatch the prescription drugs on Monday, which police described as three bottles of Ritalin containing a total of 200 pills valued at $855. 

Ritalin is a brand-name drug produced by Swiss-manufacturer Novartis. The drug, methylphenidate, is used to treat ADHD and it's not immediately clear why the man allegedly stole a drug used to treat a behavioral disorder.

Pharmacy employees discovered the theft and notified Wyckoff Police were notified.

Cops reviewed surveillance tapes and were able to identify the alleged thief as Edward Sudol, a man they believe is "a worker for a contractor who had been doing construction at the business."

Sudol, 34, was charged on a warrant with theft, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of a prescription drug with intent to distribute. 

Cops on Wednesday said they haven't arrested the Bloomingdale man yet, but they expect him to turn himself in soon.

"[Sudol's] crime was discovered shortly after he left the building during a review of surveillance tapes," Miller said. "His parents and the police were notified and his mother returned the stolen medications back to the pharmacy."

The drugs are unusable since they left the pharmacy, Miller said, "but are at least are safely back in our possession."

Miller would not specify why the 34-year-old Sudol's mother had returned the prescription pills.

This is the second theft from Miller's Pharmacy in recent memory.

Former Wyckoff Board of Education member Matthew Cole of Oxycontin pills from  in April 2010.

Cole, who , was charged with breaking into the pharmacy in 2009 and  of the highly addictive painkiller, police said.

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