POLICE SAY INMATE WHO DIED HAD ROBBED PHARMACY FOR OXYCONTIN

A 30-year-old man who died after being found unresponsive in a Waukesha
County Jail cell Saturday had committed an armed robbery to get the widely
abused painkiller OxyContin, according to Brookfield police.

The Waukesha County medical examiner's office declined to release the man's
name Sunday until it could notify the man's family, said Kristine Klenz, a
deputy medical examiner. The office believes that the man lived somewhere
in metropolitan Milwaukee.

An autopsy to determine the cause of death is scheduled for today.

The man brandished a large knife and robbed the Aurora Woodside Pharmacy,
13935 W. Capitol Drive, about 6 p.m. Friday night and stole OxyContin,
Brookfield police said.

Witnesses described to police the robber and the car in which he fled.

A Brookfield police officer saw the vehicle near Mayfair Road and Capitol
Drive in Wauwatosa and followed it. Several other Brookfield squad cars
helped the original officer stop the car near 75th and Center streets in
Wauwatosa.

Police said they recovered the stolen drugs and a large knife.

When the man was at the Brookfield police station, police said he appeared
to be suffering from drug withdrawal. He was taken to Elmbrook Memorial
Hospital, where he was treated and given medical clearance to be taken to
the Waukesha County Jail.

He was found unresponsive in the cell about 6 a.m. Saturday and was taken
to Waukesha Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:52 a.m.

Last August, OxyContin was cited as a factor in more than 100 overdose
deaths nationwide, and people desperate for the drug have been involved in
pharmacy robberies and other crimes, The New York Times reported.

The drug is beneficial for people experiencing chronic pain.