Metro

Cops shoot robbery suspect dead after pill theft

NYPD cops hunted down an Upper East Side drugstore thief using a GPS device hidden in a pill bottle — and then killed him with a barrage of shots through his windshield when he pulled a gun, sources said.

Scott Kato, 45, was trying to escape onto the FDR when he got stuck in traffic on the service road under the elevated highway near East 96th Street around 2 p.m. on Friday.
Sources said four cops approached his black Jeep with guns drawn and opened fire when he pulled out his weapon.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Kato had earlier used the gun to stick up HealthSource Pharmacy nearly 30 blocks away on Second Avenue near East 69th Street — a place he has hit three other times.

He entered around 1:30 p.m., walked to the counter at the back of the store and pulled a gun on one of the clerks, demanding cash and pills.

An officer from the NYPD Forensics Investigation Division at the crime scene after a suspected armed robber was shot and killed by the NYPDStefan Jeremiah

The pharmacist handed Kato a variety of drugs, including a bottle of pills that contained the secret tracking device, sources said. The robber then snatched money from the cash register before running out of the store.

A witness saw the pharmacy owner chasing the thief down the street before Kato hopped into his Jeep and drove north.

Kato hit traffic near the highway, allowing police to easily catch up, sources said.
Witnesses were stunned by the midday gunfire.

“I heard the 10 shots fired and saw a swarm of cops,” said witness Oneil Dixon, 35. “Cops surrounded him and he pulled a gun on the cops. The guy was stupid. Where did he think he was going to go?

“He was surrounded,” Dixon added.

The four officers involved in the shooting were unharmed.

Andre Spacely, 20, said, “There was blood all over his shirt where he was shot. The driver was on the floor after he was shot, and he was not moving.”

Kato has several prior arrests for drug possession and robbery, sources said.

He was wanted for four other drugstore robberies, including three at HealthSource Pharmacy.

He has stolen prescription painkillers and erectile-enhancement pills.