Wanted pharmacy robber found at ABQ hotel

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A new twist in the case of a former cop accused of holding up two pharmacies in Santa Fe.

Police say George Smith, 43, is in the hospital Saturday night in critical condition after he was found unconscious at an Albuquerque hotel.

Detectives say it was a possible overdose.

“[The Albuquerque Police Department] does suspect he might have overdosed with some of the pills that are suspected to have been stolen from a robbery here in Santa Fe,” says Lt. Luis Carlos with Santa Fe Police.

Smith is a suspect in two pharmacy robberies this week.

Surveillance video shows Smith at Wiley's Chemist Pharmacy on Monday.

“In the robbery in Santa Fe, he walked into the pharmacy. He walked behind the counter and demanded Hydrocodones," Lt. Carlos says.

He didn't get away with anything that time but the next day, detectives believe Smith took hundreds of narcotic pills in a second robbery in Santa Fe County.

The Santa Fe district attorney says one of her prosecutors, Smith's wife, tipped off police after seeing surveillance video.

Smith used to work for the Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Department after leaving a South Carolina sheriff's department. That was in 2009.

Now that agency is calling Santa Fe Police with questions.

“Law enforcement agencies in South Carolina are looking into robberies where they have had a similar method of being robbed. Right now we cannot confirm Smith is suspected in those robberies in South Carolina,” Lt. Carlos says.

Police say Smith is in critical condition in intensive care at UNM Hospital.

Smith will be extradited to Santa Fe where he's expected to be charged with the robberies.