Craig woman in custody following attempted break-in at Meeker Drugs

MEEKER | A woman wearing a black hoodie pulled up and dark sunglasses entered Meeker Drugs via the coffee shop entrance late in the afternoon on May 24. She had come in earlier and approached the pharmacy counter, asking to pick up a prescription for a sick uncle for whom the drugstore had no records. She then asked to use the restroom.
When she came in again, still wearing the black hoodie and dark sunglasses, store owner Diana Jones said, “My first thought was that she really wasn’t feeling well.”
The woman asked an employee if she could use the restroom. Half an hour later the employee alerted Jones that the woman hadn’t left the restroom.
“The girls (Meeker Drugs employees) think they recognized her from the day before asking for the restroom, and she was in and out,” Jones said.
The woman was found hiding in the drugstore’s basement. She had not responded to employees during an initial search and said she had fallen down the stairs. She was taken to Pioneers Medical Center and after it was determined that she was uninjured, Meeker police officers arrested Jenna Berruti, 29, of Craig, Colo., on charges of felony criminal trespass and second degree misdemeanor criminal impersonation. Berruti remains in custody in the Rio Blanco County Detention Center.
Since the incident, Meeker Drugs is implementing additional security and safety measures to for the protection of the business and the clientele. The store already had motion-activated alarm systems in place to trigger an alarm if someone entered the pharmacy outside of regular hours, but they are also adding a video surveillance system, “panic” buttons, and changing the way prescriptions are dispensed during regular store hours. Customers may pick up prescriptions between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. now—hours when the pharmacist is on duty. They’ve also installed a new lock on the restroom and customers have to ask for the key.
Rio Blanco County Sheriff Anthony Mazzola said the installation of video systems and signage indicating that video surveillance is in use can help deter crime.
“When a crime does occur, having the video as evidence is a great help to law enforcement in solving and prosecuting the case,” Mazzola added.
Jones said business owners and employees need to be aware.
“Even though Meeker is a small town, we need to be on the alert. If my employee hadn’t noticed something unusual, this could have been much worse.”
Meeker Police Chief Phil Stubblefield said “I would remind people to not allow strangers or sales people to use their restrooms or have access to areas of their homes where drugs may be stored. If you have old prescriptions they should be taken to Meeker P.D. or Sheriff’s Office as the part of the national drug take back program.”