Man charged with three business burglaries in Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – A man has been charged in connection to three commercial burglaries in Lexington dating back to December, according to Lexington Police.

Investigators say 27-year old Lech Yanicko is charged with three counts of Robbery 1st Degree.

Police say December 26, 2017, Yanicko, wearing a mask and armed with a rifle, walked into the C&C Pharmacy on Maple Leaf Drive and forced an employee to give him medication before leaving the store.

On January 10, 2018, police say took a pack of cigarettes without paying at the Kroger in Tates Creek Centre.  Two employees and a priest tried to stop Yanicko and after a brief struggle, police say Yanicko pepper-sprayed two of the people.  They say he then got into a vehicle in the Kroger parking lot, pulled out a rifle and pointed it at the people, at which time they ran back into the store.

Police say that same night around 11:25 p.m., an employee at a Walgreens on Pink Pigeon Parkway in the Hamburg area called 911 after seeing a man come into the store with his face covered and carrying a rifle.  Police say they identified the man as Yanicko and that they recovered the rifle, which turned out to be a pellet gun, along with other evidence investigators did not specify publicly.

Yanicko was lodged in the Fayette County Detention Center.