Robbins man faces charges in drug bust
A 51-year-old Robbins man was arrested Thursday after allegedly being found in possession of a large quantity of prescription drugs.
Ronnie Epperson, 51, of Robbins, faces charges of possession of Schedule II, Schedule III and Schedule IV controlled substances for resale after allegedly being found in possession with more than 100 assorted percocet, oxycontin, hydrocodone, xanax and klonopin pills.
According to an arrest warrant filed by Oneida Police Department Cpl. Gerry Garrett, officers were alerted to a “suspicious person counting pills on the sidewalk” at Citizens First Bank in south Oneida. Allegedly, Garrett observed Epperson putting pill bottles and cash into his pocket when he arrived on the scene. The warrant alleged that the various medications were found in two bottles, neither of which were prescribed to Epperson.
Oneida Chief of Police Mike Cross, who has said that there is a substantial problem with prescription drug abuse in the area, credited a concerned citizen with the tip that led to the drug bust.
“This was an example of a citizen seeing something they didn’t think was right and calling about it,” Cross said. “That’s what we always encourage people to do: When you see something you don’t think is right, call and let us come investigate it.
“For law enforcement to be successful, it has to be consistent in its enforcement, whether its drug laws or traffic laws or whatever it is,” Cross added. “On any given day, there are a limited number of police officers on the street, but literally hundreds of people with hundreds of pairs of eyes that can see stuff and hear stuff. Law enforcement agencies can only be as successful as those people help us to be.”