Three charged in Chapel Hill pharmacy burglary

Police said the suspects, including two N.C. State freshmen, had bagged up large quantities of prescription drugs.

Posted 4:35 p.m. Apr 23, 2009 — Updated 11:23 p.m. Apr 23, 2009

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Officers responding to an alarm at a Chapel Hill drug store early Thursday arrested three people, including two North Carolina State University students, whom they suspect of breaking in the store.

One suspect, Tamyka Marie Steinbeck, 19, of 2296 Hopewell Church Road in Catawba, was found behind the Rite Aid in the Eastgate Shopping Center looking up toward the roof, Chapel Hill Police Department spokesman Lt. Kevin Gunter said.

Police found Jacob Howard Lockerman, 18, of 706 Petterson St. in Clinton, and Christopher Proctor, 18, of 311 Williford Road in Ahoskie, inside the store.

Gunter said the suspects had bagged up large quantities of prescription drugs. Officers also found a handgun inside the pharmacy after the 4 a.m. break-in.

The suspects were each charged with felony breaking and entering, damage to real property, conspiracy to commit a felony and possession of burglary tools.

Lockerman also was charged with possession of a firearm with an altered serial number.

The three suspects had attended the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham. Steinbeck and Proctor are freshmen biochemistry majors at North Carolina State University.

All three were in the Orange County jail Thursday. Bond for Steinbeck and Proctor was set at $10,000, and Lockerman was under a $20,000 bond.

Police are still investigating a November break-in at the same store, in which the suspects also got in through a vent on the roof. They said it was too early to tell if the cases are connected.

Suggest A Correction