A thirty-five-year-old Addison Vermont man has been arrested in connection with the armed robbery of Kinney Drugs in South Burlington. Mr. Johny Bixby is currently charged with one count of using a firearm while committing a violent crime and one count of the hindrance of business by robbery.
On October 4, 2021, Mr. Bixby allegedly entered Kinney Drug Store on Williston Road and held two pharmacy employees at gunpoint while ordering them to give him hydromorphone pills. Hydromorphone is an opioid drug prescribed to alleviate the pain that opioid other medicines cannot treat. Hydromorphone is also known by the brand names Dilaudid and Exalgo. Hydromorphone is one of the drugs that has been the focus of the crackdown on opioids due to the opioid abuse epidemic facing our country.
Several citizens informed the police that Mr. Bixby was the man responsible for the pharmacy robbery. When arrested, Johny Bixby had the gun used in the robbery in his possession. After his arrest, Mr. Bixby confessed to having committed the Kinney Drug Store Robbery.
U.S. Magistrate Kevin Doyle will hear the pretrial motions on bail and determine if he will be detained until trial. If convicted, Mr. Bixby could face jail time ranging from five years to a life sentence. Assistant U.S. District Attorney Barbara Masterson will be the prosecuting attorney. Mr. Bixby is being assigned an attorney through the Federal Public Defender’s Office.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ophardt praised the coordinated and rapid investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Vermont State Police, the Colchester, the Hinesburg, Burlington, and South Burlington Police departments.
