August 31, 2010 in City

‘Scruffy’ man robs pharmacy of OxyContin

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Around 3:50 p.m. Tuesday, a robber stormed through the Fifth and Browne Pharmacy with a knife, demanding OxyContin, police said.

Employees of the pharmacy, located at 104 W. 5th Ave., said the robber was a “scruffy-looking” male, wearing a stocking hat, glasses and a sweatshirt. After the robbery he bolted through the door leading into the patient parking lot.

Spokane Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer DeRuwe said they believe the man has dark hair and is unshaven.

One comment on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  JimReierson on August 31 at 7:11 p.m.

  This latest robbery with the robber using a knife to force the pharmacist to turn over the narcotic OxyContin shows this type of crime is not about to stop - and unfortunately, someone may wind up dead. The rationale behind these brazen and dangerous crimes is the selling of these pills for up to $80 a pill. Just a few days ago, two suspects had their first appearance in Kootenai County before Magistrate Clark Peterson, with bail of over $100,000 set for both, who are husband and wife. Both are convicted felons, with the male having been sentenced within the last month of possessing 300 of the OxyContin pills. His pregnant wife, has two prior felony convictions, so is now charged addtitionally as a Persistent Offender (sentence enchancement) and could face up to life in prison. They are charged with delivering pills to a law enforcement confidential informant. They allegedly were selling pills they had obtained in Spokane, having violated their felony probation by travelling over to Spokane without permission.

  I mention these two suspects because this topic of Oxycontin robberies and what to do with the criminals who rob with guns and knives is important. I think they must be apprehended, charged and if convicted, punished severely.

  My efforts to have one of the Prosecuting Attorney candidate’s statements about what should be done as far as punishing this type of crime discussed and debated were not successful. Mr. Bugbee, a criminal defense attorney, when asked about drugs and jail overcrowding last June at a Republican formun at the Quality Inn in the Spokane valley, opined that they were all addicts who needed drug treatment and did not need incarceration in jail. Interestingly, he ommitted any mention of the word robbery or the use of weapons to carry out the crimes. Mr. Tucker, Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney, and Mr. Stevens, the prosecutor Tucker fired in February, had a chance to enlighten the audience that these were dangerous crimes and ‘even if’ a robber was for argument sake an addict, public safety and deterrence demand action to stop the robber and deter others from doing this type of crime.

  Recently, the Spokesman-Review printed a story that both Mr. Bugbee and Mr. Stevens are now supporting Tucker after the primary election results. Mr. Stevens apparently is inferring the paper did not accurately report his exact words, and if so, a retraction or correction by the paper should be done. Since I have always maintained Mr. Tucker is the criminal defendants’ best friend in Spokane County due to lenient plea deals that often do not serve justice and contrary to what the victims desire and his long standing practice of not charging all suspected criminals within the required 72 hour period (even though police do a prompt report of probable cause) that allows them to get back on the streets and commit more crimes, apparently Mr. Bugbee can now live with Mr. Tucker having another four years to do what he has since 1998 - namely nothing except pick up a paycheck. Tucker’s inaction has helped make Spokane a more dangerous place to live.

  The residents of this county need to get concerned about who should be elected in November as prosecutor. We need someone who can recognize problems and deal with them, and protect this community. I tried by best to illustrate the issues and ran on a law & order platform - as I believe this office should not be partisan. Victims do not care about Republican for Democrat - only justice. Public safety is at stake here.

  Tucker can be expected to be sympathetic to defenses propounded by defense attorneys like Mr. Bugbee - that really try to help the criminal defendants avoid responsiblity.

  I had 7,962 voters select me as their candidate. Who will they support in November - and will I make any recommendation to them? Will voters decide honesty and character matter?