Having a township deputy paid off for residents of Washington Township Tuesday, when an armed robbery suspect, already on parole for four counts of armed robbery, robbed Gahm’s Pharmacy on Galena Pike, in West Portsmouth.

The Scioto County Sheriff’s Office is crediting Washington Twp. Patrol Deputy Andy Drake and Deputy Dan Malone in a quick resolution to the incident, and an immediate arrest.

David B. Nelson, 53, of 208 Ceder St., Lancaster is charged with aggravated robbery, theft of drugs and will face charges of kidnapping when presented to the Scioto County Grand Jury.

Sheriff Marty V. Donini said his office received a 911 call for assistance at Gahm’s Pharmacy at about 5:30 p.m. The caller stated that a white male had come into the store with a handgun, tied up the employees and had taken an unknown amount of prescription medication from the pharmacy.

“We got a call about 5:30 p.m. from the employees of the pharmacy that they had just been robbed, and that they had seen a male go up Second Street around Calvert’s Lane,” Scioto County Sheriff’s Deputy David Hall said. “We dispatched officers to that area. The Washington Twp. deputy spotted him on Second Street, and there was another officer coming through. He was going to a detail, that officer being Danny Malone, and he assisted him.”

Nelson reportedly fled on foot, gun in hand, and the medications in a pillow case.

Drake chased him through some yards before taking him down in the Second Street area of West Portsmouth.

The subject was later identified by the employees at Gahm’s Pharmacy as being the suspect who robbed them.

“The employees are OK, and they did a really good job,” Hall said. “Kevin Gahm and his employees were awesome.”

“We got to checking and found out he’s on parole for four counts of aggravated robbery, robbery, and having a weapon under disability from prior robberies, so we got a parole holder placed on him … from the adult parole office,” Hall said.

A holder allows local authorities to hold suspects without bond when they are charged with violating parole.

“We will probably add kidnapping charges when we go before the grand jury,” Hall said.

Hall credited the township deputy program with the quick arrest.

“That’s the great thing about the Washington Twp. Trustees having an officer assigned to their township,” Hall said. “He was right there in the area when something was going down. When you start patrolling a township, that area becomes yours, and you feel like it’s your own family. They know the people who live in their townships, and if one thing looks suspicious to them they look out of place to them.”

If anyone has further information on this case, they may contact the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office at (740) 354-7566.

FRANK LEWIS can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232 or flewis@heartlandpublications.com