Yesterday, Suffolk County police arrested David Laffer, 33, for killing four workers and customers at a Medford pharmacy before stealing 10,000 hydrocodone pills as well as ingredients promethazine and cheratussin, found in Purple Drank. When he was taken out of his home, Laffer sported bruises and cuts to his face—which he received while resisting arrest (it's believed he was high at the time).
Newsday has the court papers describing the arrest. "The defendant, while being taken to the ground, grabbed and held onto the undersigned officer's weapon. The defendant was struck until he released the weapon and proceeded to roll onto his stomach with his arms tucked under his body ... The undersigned with the assistance of another officer was able to pry the subject's hands from under his body and put them behind his back and apply handcuffs."
Police believe that Laffer robbed the Haven Drugs and killed worker Jennifer Mejia, 17, pharmacist Raymond Ferguson, 45, and customers Bryon Sheffield, 71, and Jamie Taccetta, 33 execution-style on Sunday in order to steal prescription drugs for his wife. His wife of two years, Melinda Brady, was also arrested and charged with third-degree robbery (she was allegedly waiting in a car while Laffer was in the pharmacy). She told reporters, "I'm sorry he did all this... He was doing it because ... he lost his job over my health," and added, "He did it... he did all of it." A friend of Laffer's said he often missed their hockey games because Brady would be in pain from oral surgeries.
According to the Daily News, "Detectives zeroed in on Laffer because he was a repeat painkiller customer, owned a .45-caliber pistol and looked just like the weaselly-faced suspect caught on tape leaving the bloody crime scene." Newsday adds, that there were "phoned-in tips and a fingerprint found at the pharmacy." The police quietly surrounded Laffer's Medford house; a neighbor said, "These guys came up like an orchestra. They were unbelievable. It made TV look like a joke. Really, in all honesty, I was in awe," while another said a cop told her to go back in her house and lock her doors.
Laffer was fired two weeks ago from a "commercial-grade measuring instrument distributor in Yaphank," for allegedly "trying to steal another employee's property." Newsday says that Laffer, an Army vet who was discharged in 2002, applied for food stamps last Friday, two days before the shooting.
Victim Jamie Taccetta's brother went to the police headqarters to gatch a glimpse of Laffer; Daniel Taccetta, who had been looking forward to see his sister get married this fall, told the Daily News, "The lethal injection would be too quick for him. He should rot in solitary confinement." And the sister of Jennifer Mejia, who would have graduated from high school today, told the Post, "We know justice is going to be served. God will deal with him. The police know what they're doing, and we trust them."
