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Taxi driver helps nab alleged Rite Aid robber

A taxi driver's quick thinking — and door locks — helped Gloucester Township police eventually nab a suspected robber after she held up a Rite Aid, police said.

A taxi driver's quick thinking — and door locks — helped Gloucester Township police eventually nab a suspected robber after she held up a Rite Aid, police said.

The suspect, Lauren Bianco, 28, of the Tamarac Apartments in Camden, allegedly took a cab with a friend to the chain pharmacy on Chews Landing Road, then entered the store by herself and held up a register clerk shortly before 9 p.m. Monday, police said. She allegedly showed a handgun and the clerk gave her $100.

As the Bianco fled the store, a manager who had been in an office tackled her, police said. But she managed to get outside.

That's when the alert taxi driver, who had noticed the scuffle inside the Rite Aid, locked his doors so Bianco couldn't get back into the vehicle. The cabbie then dialed 9-1-1.

Bianco still got away, until Tuesday afternoon, when police tracked her down in Camden.

It was pretty easy to find her: considering her friend was in the back seat, along with her identification, pocketbook and other personal belongings, police said.

She's charged with armed robbery and being held on $250,000 bail.