Elderly Suspect Wesley Mark Bingham Arrested in Armed Robbery of Odessa Pharmacy

ODESSA, Texas — The Odessa Police Department has arrested a 68-year-old local resident following an intensive investigation into a brazen daytime armed robbery at a local supermarket pharmacy. Wesley Mark Bingham was taken into custody on Thursday, May 14, 2026, and faces multiple counts of aggravated robbery.

The investigation began on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 12, 2026, when patrol officers responded to an armed robbery call at the United Supermarkets pharmacy located at 2751 North County Road West in Odessa. Witness statements and pharmacy staff reported that an elderly male suspect entered the establishment wearing a black face mask, a hat, and gloves. The suspect approached the pharmacy counter, brandished or indicated he possessed a handgun, and demanded that the staff hand over specific prescription narcotics, including hydrocodone pills and fentanyl patches. To delay any immediate reports to the police, the robber also confiscated the mobile phones of several witnesses at the counter before fleeing the scene.

Detectives began reviewing surveillance footage from the supermarket and surrounding businesses. Video footage from a nearby business captured a light-colored SUV driving away from the area immediately following the robbery. Investigators traced the vehicle's registration, which led them to a deceased female owner, later identified as Bingham's mother. Further investigative work pointed officers to a residence in the 1800 block of Alamosa Street in Odessa.

When Odessa police officers arrived at the Alamosa Street home to conduct follow-up inquiries, they encountered Bingham. Investigators immediately observed that he was wearing shoes that perfectly matched those worn by the suspect in the pharmacy surveillance footage. Furthermore, officers noted that Bingham possessed two highly distinctive physical traits mentioned by witnesses: a noticeable hunchback posture and a pronounced limp. These identifiers, combined with the vehicle link, provided sufficient probable cause for his arrest.

Bingham was arrested on May 14 and transported to the Ector County Detention Center. He was initially charged with two counts of Aggravated Robbery, which is a first-degree felony in Texas. Detectives also noted during his initial booking that Bingham was a suspect under active investigation for an earlier pharmacy robbery that occurred in March 2026 at a CVS pharmacy on West University Boulevard.