FAIRLAWN, Ohio -- A retired police officer is accused of breaking into the Fairlawn City Hall to steal prescription drugs.

Robert Buza, 57, who retired in 2013 as a Fairlawn police sergeant, is charged in Akron Municipal Court with safecracking, attempted theft and breaking and entering, all felonies.

Buza is scheduled to make is first court appearance on Thursday.

Fairlawn Police Chief Kenneth Walsh said investigators believe Buza may have stolen from the drop box before. He said detectives are combing through past surveillance footage of the drop box.

"It was just blind luck that we caught him," Walsh said.

A Fairlawn police officer stopping by the city's dispatch center spotted someone pulling into to the city hall parking lot about 10:20 a.m. Sunday, Walsh said.

The officer watched Buza walk to an alcove between the police department and city hall. The person used a key to get into the seldom-used door, Walsh said.

An officer found Buza digging through a dropbox used for people to safely discard prescription medication inside city hall. The officer asked Buza what he was doing. Buza replied: "You know what I'm doing," according to court records.

Police said Buza also had keys to the prescription box.

Police took Buza's keys and allowed him to leave the building, police said. Fairlawn police investigated the incident further and charged Buza Wednesday.

Walsh said Buza returned his city-issued keys upon his retirement. He never had access through the city to keys to the prescription drop box.

"Our keys have a stamp that say 'Do Not Duplicate', so we don't know how he came upon the keys to the building," Walsh said. "The box we use discarded drugs, he was never issued a key to that. I would hazard to guess he had them when he came in."

Buza's law enforcement career spanned more than three decades. He spent five years at the Copley Township Police Department before being hired by Fairlawn police in 1985. He spent the next 28 years with Fairlawn, reaching the rank of detective sergeant.

"It's especially tough," Walsh said. "He was an excellent officer, an excellent detective. He was well-respected by the community."