The front door of the Mott Drug Store was broken, and thieves helped themselves to a variety of eight prescription and nonprescription drugs Friday morning.

Hettinger County Sheriff Terry Marigny said the case is being investigated for the possibility that it's related to a similar burglary at the Steiner Drug Store in Dickinson, which was reported that same morning.

In Mott, Marigny said the drug store owner was still cataloging how much of each drug had been taken, several of them generic prescription drugs.

Marigny said the glass broken out of the bottom of the drug store's front door - the way thieves went in - was noticed at 7:30 Friday morning by a resident clearing snow off the sidewalk out front.

The Dickinson burglary tripped an alarm at approximately 4 a.m., said Dickinson Police Department detective Jason Dalen.

Dalen said that in Dickinson, police apprehended Ben Hegstad, 22, of Gladstone, who was leaving the scene, and he was charged with felony burglary and a misdemeanor theft of prescription painkillers, amounting to 115 tablets.

Dalen said another person was seen leaving the scene when police arrived, and that person also is being investigated.

Dalen said Hegstad and the other suspect also were being questioned about the Mott burglary.

- Lauren Donovan