A man who’s accused in two armed robberies of Vancouver pharmacies is now suspected in a third violent robbery, in Portland, along with another man. Police say all of the robberies are part of a series that they’ve been investigating.
Keith B. Woody Jr., 24, of Portland and Ceontae S. Poston, 18, residence unavailable, robbed the Milwaukie Mart in Southeast Portland on Oct. 9, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
Portland police responded at about 2:40 p.m. to the market, 4401 S.E. Milwaukie Ave., and found an employee suffering from a head wound. He was transported by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment, according to a news release.
The victim told police that two men entered the market and ordered him to get down on the floor. One of the assailants was armed with a handgun and struck the victim in the face with the weapon. The victim’s 5-year-old daughter was in the store at the time but hid, the news release said.
The suspects, later identified by police as Woody and Poston, left the market with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Woody, Poston, and a third man, 19-year-old Keandre D. Brown of Portland, were arrested Oct. 20 by officers from the Vancouver Police Department, Clark County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force near Southeast 107th Avenue and Mill Plain Boulevard. A fourth man, identified in court records as Cedric A. Jones, 29, was also arrested on a parole violation. All of the men had warrants for their arrest out of Oregon.
Woody was in Clark County Superior Court on Monday and Tuesday in two separate robbery cases from the summer. He and Brown, who also appeared in Superior Court, are accused of robbing the Mill Plain Pharmacy, 614 Mill Plain Blvd., at gunpoint Aug. 22. They face charges of first-degree robbery, four counts of second-degree assault and two counts each of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, court records show.
The two men made off with oxycodone after entering the store armed with handguns and ordering everyone to “get down,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
Woody also robbed a Vancouver Walgreens Pharmacy at 2903 N.E. Andresen Road at gunpoint June 7 and stole more than $20,000 in cash and prescription drugs, a separate probable cause affidavit states. An alleged accomplice in that robbery was not identified in court records.
Woody is charged with first-degree robbery and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in that case.
He and Brown are being held at the Clark County Jail on no-bail holds for being fugitives from justice. Poston was extradited to the Multnomah County Jail on Thursday.
