A Carbon County man accused of stealing painkillers from a Lehighton pharmacy last month has been arrested.

John Eremus, 50, of Lehighton, is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Nov. 12.Eremus faces charges of robbery, theft, receiving stolen property, and two counts of simple assault.He also faces charges of theft of a motor vehicle, and authorized use of motor vehicle for a stolen vehicle the following day.Eremus is in Carbon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $300,000 for the armed robbery, and $100,000 for theft of vehicle.According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by detective Scott Prebosnyak of the Lehighton Police Department:On Oct. 18, the borough police department received a call of an armed robbery at First National Pharmacy, located at 143 N. First St.Carbon County communications said the suspect was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.Officer Gabe Szozda went to the scene, while numerous units from several jurisdictions searched the area via patrol cars, police bikes, and on foot for the suspect.Police said Eremus came into the pharmacy with his hood up, drawn tight around his face wearing thick, older-style glasses.He yelled in a slurred deep voice, "I want Oxys, get my Oxys, I don't want to hurt anyone. Just get me Oxys now!"Eremus was holding what the witnesses described as a small, black revolver in his hand.OxycodoneAn employee who was working at the counter immediately ran down to the cellar to hide, while the pharmacist on duty immediately went to the safe and retrieved two bottles of 100 Oxycodone 15 mg tablets and one bottle of 100 Oxycodone 30 mg tablets, and gave them to Eremus as he was pointing the weapon at the pharmacist.The pharmacist followed Eremus outside and saw him run across First Street, then up Carbon Alley.At the top of Carbon Alley before turning right onto East Alley, Eremus pulled down his hoodie, revealing that he had short dark hair.The pharmacist also said that Eremus stole a $20 bill that was left on the counter by a previous customer.The value of the three bottles of Oxycodone and the $20 bill taken was $1,220.The area was swarmed by police personnel within less than a minute of the call because the Halloween parade was in progress.However, Eremus could not be located, so police thought he was living or staying with someone very close to the robbery location.On Oct. 19, at 10:32 a.m., Sgt. Joseph Lawrence responded to the 200 block of North First Street, where the resident reported that her son had taken her vehicle without her permission.'Where are cops?'Eremus was asking unusual questions such as "where are the cops right now?" and did the police get a description of the person?Lawrence said around 6 p.m. the day of the robbery, the granddaughter of Eremus, returned to the residence in the 200 block of North First Street, and Eremus asked her to walk to Mallard Market with him.They did so, and Eremus' mother received a call from Eremus' granddaughter stating that Eremus was "tripping out" and acting strange.He had slurred speech, his actions were slow, and nothing he did or said was making sense.While at Mallard Market, Eremus gave his granddaughter a green pill stamped "K8," which was a 15 mg Oxycodone tablet, to hold for him.Upon returning home, Eremus' mother said that he was obviously on something, and eventually Eremus was taken to his son's house on Ochre Street. Shortly after, Eremus was taken to the hospital as an overdose patient.Officer Neal Ebbert received the overdose call that night at 9:10 p.m. His investigation led him back to the residence on North First Street where Eremus was staying.While on scene, Ebbert and Lawrence got written consent to search the area. In the backyard where Eremus reportedly spends most of his time, a black hooded sweatshirt was recovered, the same as described from the robbery.The sweatshirt was identified as belonging to Eremus, and was located in an enclosed fence, and not accessible from the street to the general public.The hooded sweatshirt was taken as evidence.On Oct. 19, after being released from the hospital from the overdose, Eremus' mother allowed him to stay at her residence.At about 10 a.m., Eremus woke from a sleep yelling "where is it?" His mother asked what he was talking about and he said, "the pills, where did they find them?"He began looking frantically around and shouted "they are gone, you (expletive) me, you killed me!"Eremus' mother told him she did nothing and asked him what pills he was talking about.Eremus then answered, "the pills from First National."Eremus said he was going to a person's home in Florida, and that police would have to extradite him from there.He began emptying his mother's purse, broke her cellphone, and disconnected the phones inside the residence, then fled in her vehicle, according to the affidavit.Lawrence again received written consent for further searching of the property in the 200 block of North First Street. Upon searching the rear of the property, additional evidence was obtained.In a plastic garbage can sitting next to the swimming pool, a small black gun resembling a revolver was found, which matched the weapon described by the pharmacist.The gun turned out to be plastic, but appeared real, and was taken into evidence.Eremus was not able to be interviewed due to his condition, as he was in Palmerton Hospital due to another overdose.He was discovered slumped over the wheel of the stolen vehicle reported to police on Bake Oven Road.On Oct. 22, Eremus was being transported by Lehighton Ambulance from Palmerton Hospital to Blue Mountain Health System for MRI testing.During this trip, he told a paramedic and a patient observer, "I am (expletive) my life is over."The paramedic asked Eremus why, and he stated "I stole the Oxy from the pharmacy on First Street."He also said he was "so depressed and distraught over things going on that he just didn't care, and demanded the medication from the pharmacy.On Oct. 23, Prebosnyak, along with borough Police Chief Brian Biechy, went to Palmerton Hospital to interview Eremus, who was given his Miranda warnings and agreed to speak to Prebosnyak.Eremus admitted to robbing the pharmacy because of his need for Oxycodone. He also admitted that the gun and sweatshirt that was recovered were his from the robbery, and said he spray painted the gun black so that it appeared to be real.Eremus said that he did take all of the Oxycodone that was stolen during the robbery.