Savannah Roat and Chelsea Hall peer into the window at Trivillian’s to see what is going on. They had come to get lunch but, like other customers, were turned away because of Wednesday’s raid.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Trivillian’s Pharmacy and Soda Fountain — known to locals as a little step-back-in-time Kanawha City lunch counter with hot dogs and strawberry sodas — was the subject of a federal raid Wednesday.
Several agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the State Police went in and out of the 35th Street pharmacy and diner. Some people said agents had been there since that morning.
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin confirmed it was a federal operation but could not comment on anything else.
A hand-written closed sign hung on the front door and agents turned away several people looking to fill prescriptions or grab some lunch.
Darren Olofson was one of the people looking to get a prescription for his son’s anti-seizure medication. Olofson said troopers told him to come back tomorrow because the pharmacy would more than likely be open by then. He said he had about one week left of the medication.
Charleston Councilman John Miller, a Republican who represents Kanawha City residents, has been going to Trivillian’s for about eight to 10 years. Miller said he was surprised when he tried to pick up his medication Wednesday. He was able to pick up his prescriptions later that afternoon, however.
“I was shocked because when I first went there, I was wondering what happened,” he said. “Officers told me I couldn’t go in there.”
Miller, who has lived in Kanawha City for 46 years, said the business especially has been a popular place for lunch and he’s never known it to have any problems.
“I was surprised and shocked because you wouldn’t think that would happen at Trivillian’s,” he said.
Trivillian’s has long had a reputation for being a place where customers felt like they were stepping back to more innocent days.
“I’m not sure how often you see a soda fountain still in existence, but this was my first,” one diner wrote last year on the popular restaurant review website Urban Spoon. “They harken back to a simpler time…
