A man claiming to have a gun robbed a south-side drugstore of prescription painkillers, according to a Fort Wayne police report. The man approached the pharmacy counter in Walgreens at 222 E. Pettit Ave.FORT WAYNE – A man charged last week in the shooting death of a woman bought bullets the night before she was found, and police found a gun and ammunition on a rooftop before arresting him, court records said.
Patrick Rashad Fluker, 19, of the 4000 block of Smith Street, remained in the Allen County Jail on Wednesday on charges of murder and possession of stolen auto parts. He was being held without bail.
Fluker was found urinating near the site of the slaying. When Fort Wayne police questioned Fluker and searched him, they found a Walmart receipt, according to court records filed Tuesday and made public Wednesday.The receipt indicated ammunition for a 9 mm handgun had been purchased just after 9:30 p.m. Sept. 2.
By 5 a.m. Friday, the next day, Tiffany Mendez, 29, was dead.
Police found her near Lindley and Parkview avenues, abandoned by railroad tracks near McCulloch Park, just south of downtown. A bra and blood were found nearby, court records said.
Someone who heard six gunshots in the area called 911. The caller also told dispatchers that a car sped away from a parking lot near the rail tracks only to stop at the gate to the General Electric building, police said. A man then got out of the car and ran west.
Shortly after arriving at the scene, police detained Fluker, who matched the description given by the caller, court records said
Police said in court records Fluker was sweating “profusely” when they started to talk to him. The car he was driving, a 2000 Cadillac Seville, was reported stolen in New Haven on Aug. 21. The car does not belong to Mendez, police said.
Police checked the roof of the building Fluker was urinating on and found a 9 mm handgun and the recently purchased ammunition. Five 9 mm shell casings were found near Mendez, court records said.
Police spoke to a Walmart manager and watched surveillance videotape that showed Fluker leaving the store with another woman after making his purchase, court records said.
Police have not released a motive in the killing.
Mendez’s slaying is Allen County’s 19th homicide this year.
She is survived by a son and daughter, her parents and two brothers. A funeral service for Mendez will be at 10 a.m. today at D.O. McComb & Sons Lakeside Park Funeral Home, 1140 Lake Ave.
