Retired SFPD officer pleads no contest to San Mateo drug store robbery

SAN MATEO – A retired sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department on Monday has pleaded no contest to robbing a San Mateo drug store last year for prescription pain killers.

According to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, 56-year-old Davin Lyle Cole of San Mateo pleaded no contest to two counts of felony second degree robbery.

Prosecutors said on November 3, 2021 Cole walked into a RideAid pharmacy on Concar Drive and handed a pharmacy tech a note. Cole’s note said he had a gun, not to push the alarm and demanded pills for Norco, a highly-addictive pain killer.

The pharmacy tech went to three other employees and told them about the robbery. Prosecutors said the tech’s supervisor then called 911.

Meanwhile, a pharmacist went to Cole and told him she would get what he wanted. Cole became upset and wanted to know if they were calling police.

The victims gave Cole 11 bottles of Norco valued at nearly $920, prosecutors said. Cole did not show a weapon during the incident, which was captured on surveillance video.

Following the incident, a responding San Mateo police officer spotted Cole carrying a bag of drugs. Prosecutors said he ignored the officer’s command to stop and ran.

Cole was arrested after the officer warned a stun gun would be used on him.

Authorities said a search yielded a small, unregistered handgun in his waist. The pills and the robbery note were also found nearby.

Cole also told authorities that he had been addicted to painkillers for a decade.

According to his LinkedIn page, Cole served nearly three decades in the SFPD until retiring earlier this year. He had also served as a deputy in the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office.

Prosecutors said Cole would be sentenced on November 14.