Local law enforcement agencies were on the lookout Monday for a man who stole quantities of several prescription drugs from Professional Pharmacy in Cortez after telling a pharmacist that he was carrying a weapon.

Cortez Police officers and Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputies surrounded the pharmacy building at 33 N. Elm Street Monday morning shortly after the man slid a note to a pharmacist demanding no money but requesting several prescription drugs.

"The man claimed to be armed and kept reaching in his coat," said Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane. "Nobody saw a weapon, though."

Lane said that the man left the pharmacy with a number of prescription drugs including Valium, Percocet, Percodan, Demerol and morphine.

Valium is considered to be a class 4 medication used for anxiety and muscle relaxation. Percocet and Percodan are both class 2 narcotics used to control pain.

Lane described the suspect as a 35- to 40-year-old Caucasian male with brown hair and a short mustache. The man, who is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 160 to 170 pounds with green eyes, was wearing blue overalls and a red bandana, the report said.

"The man went out the southwest door toward the alley and we haven’t seen him since," Lane said.

Melissa Fletcher, a clerk at the pharmacy, said Monday that the man handed the pharmacist a note listing the drugs he wanted. The man said he wanted both generic and name-brand drugs.

Fletcher said the man was given a total of about 320 tablets of the five prescription drugs he requested. The note said he was armed, and he repeated this several times during the encounter, Fletcher said.

During the robbery, one person tried to distract the robber while another clerk called the police, Fletcher said. The man kept repeating "time is running out," she said.

There were no customers in the pharmacy during the robbery, although one customer entered as the man left, Fletcher said.

Durango Police Capt. Dale Smith said Monday that the suspect matches the description of a man charged with robbing a City Market pharmacy in Durango.

On March 5, a man later identifed as Dana A. Mitchell, 27, a.k.a Shawn Peterson, allegedly told two pharmacy employees at South City Market in Durango that he had a gun and told them to give him three specific prescription drugs. After he received the drugs, Mitchell threatened to shoot the employees if they didn’t lie down on the floor.

Mitchell was later arrested and charged with aggravated robbery, fraud and placing a forged order. He has not entered a plea, but was free on $25,000 bail Monday.

In the Durango robbery, Mitchell received Roxicet, Roxiprin, Percocet and diazepam, Smith said. Roxicet and Roxiprin are different brand names for Percocet and Percodan, while diazepam is the generic name for Valium.

Detectives from Cortez were talking Monday with Durango investigators regarding the apparent similarities between the two incidents, Smith said.

Officers from both the Cortez Police Department and the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office blocked off the crime scene shortly after the robbery and tried to lift fingerprints from the pharmacy’s door.

Sheriff’s Office K-9 Kilo and K-9 Deputy Mike Marston were attempting to pick up the man’s scent shortly after the robbery occurred.

Police officers were dispatched throughout Cortez in search of the suspect, who was last seen driving a small black sports car.

Immediately following the incident, officers stopped two or three suspects around town who appeared to fit the robber’s description, but no matches were found.