Man pleads guilty to Edina pharmacy pill robbery, sentenced to four years in prison

A Minneapolis man has pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced by a Hennepin County judge to four years in prison after he admitted to stealing painkillers from a Walgreens in Edina.

Damon Artesse Guy, 29, was convicted of simple robbery in a plea last week that saw one count of second-degree aggravated robbery dismissed. Judge Michael Burns sentenced him to 48 months in the St. Cloud prison with 445 days of credit for time served and ruled that he must pay $3,762 in restitution, according to court documents.

RELATED: Minneapolis man charged after robbery at Edina Walgreens

A criminal complaint states that Edina police officers responded to a Walgreens on York Avenue in December 2022 for a report of a robbery in progress.

Police then found Guy carrying a plastic bag and saw that he “appeared to hurrying to leave the store.” The officer then blocked him, but Guy continued to try to leave.

The complaint states that Guy then struggled with officers, during which the bag ripped open and multiple pill containers poured out.

Guy was then taken into custody and after police determined Guy was giving them a false name, they confirmed his identity through his fingerprints and determined he had multiple outstanding warrants for his arrest.

Staff at Walgreens reported that Guy had claimed to have a weapon and held his hand in his hoodie pocket to imply a gun.

The staff said he then demanded all the Oxycodone and jumped over the counter to access a safe, which employees told him was on a time delay and couldn’t immediately be opened. Police were called during the delay.

Guy also demanded Promethazine and Codeine, according to the complaint, and then took several pill bottles from the safe when it opened, with a combined estimated value of about $1,000.