A man who donned a black wig to rob two Spokane pharmacies of OxyContin last year donned a jail jumpsuit today after he was sentenced to about a year in prison.

Dustin J. Rockstrom, 26, was taken into custody after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree robbery. He was sentenced to 13 months in prison and ordered to seek drug addiction treatment.

Rockstrom wore a black wig (pictured above) when he robbed the Shopko at 4515 S. Regal St on Aug. 24, then the Rite Aid across the street on Sept. 5.

Police found that wig when they raided in apartment rented by Rockstrom’s alleged getaway driver, Aaron M. Weyrauch, 28. Weyrauch is in jail awaiting trial. Rockstrom had been out on bond.

Weyrauch’s former roommate, Dalen J. McMillon, 27, is wanted on drug dealing charges connected to an OxyContin ring police believe was operating out of their apartment at 903 S. Adams.

Anyone with information on McMillon’s location is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Past coverage:

Alleged robber’s roomie accused of Oxy dealing

Searching for robber, police find possible Oxy ring

Another charge for Oxy robbery suspect

The former roommate of a man charged with robbing two pharmacies for OxyContin last fall is accused of selling the drug but hasn’t been located by police.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that help arrest Dalen J. McMillon, 27.

McMillon (right) is wanted on two counts of delivery of a controlled substance for alleged transactions with a confidential informant on Sept. 8 and Sept. 10. Charges were filed Jan. 28; Crime Stoppers issued a reward for his capture on Monday.

McMillon was with Aaron M. Weyrauch, 28, and Dustin J. Rockstrom, 27, when officers arrested them Sept. 15 on robbery charges for OxyContin heists Aug. 24 at the Shopko at 4515 S. Regal St, and Sept. 5 at the Rite Aid across the street, 4514 S. Regal St.

Police found a wig thought to have been worn by Rockstrom in the robberies in an apartment McMillon and Weyrauch shared at 903 S. Adams, along with pills, drug paraphernalia and suspected heroin, according to court documents.

Weyrauch is in jail; Rockstrom is out on $30,000 bond.

Anyone with information on McMillon’s location is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, or submit tips online here.

Past coverage:

Searching for robber, police find possible Oxy ring

Another charge for Oxy robbery suspect

A 20-year-old man who as a teenager terrorized Spokane payday loan stores in a drug-fueled armed robbery spree was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday.

Before Zachary T. Allen apologized for his crimes, family members described a sweet boy with a bright future who lost his way to the prescription drug OxyContin.

“I sincerely wish everyone had a chance to know Zach like I know him, before the bad influence of people and drugs,” said his older sister, Kiley Allen.

Testimony from Allen’s family came after a court official read a prepared statement from a clerk was so terrorized by Allen that she quit her job at a north Spokane payday loan center and has reoccurring nightmares.

“In my dream, I didn’t make it out of the situation alive,” Jennifer Counts wrote.

Allen’s robberies came at the height of Spokane’s OxyContin-fueled crimes –which has included dozens of robberies by mostly young men with no criminal records.

He and his then-girlfriend, Kimberley A. Norman, went on a month-long robbery spree in January 2009 that led some stores to lock their doors and demand customers to show identification before entering. Even then, Allen tried robbing one of the businesses – screaming and banging on the door as the clerk hid.

The two were arrested Feb. 6, 2009, after police detectives identified them through confidential informants, high school yearbooks and MySpace postings, according to court documents.

“You made some choices that horrified this community and terrified this community,” said Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno before approving a plea deal Wednesday that sends Allen to prison for 129 months.

Read the rest of my story: Serial robber sentenced to 10 years

Previous coverage:

Robbery spree haunts clerks, prosecutor says

OxyContin robberies will continue, police fear

Measures aim to halt hold ups

A man who robbed elderly women in grocery store parking lots to support his OxyContin addiction will spend seven years in prison.

Ryan Xavier Burgess, 22, was sentenced to 86 months in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree robbery, one count of attempted second-degree robbery and and four counts of second-degree theft. He’ll serve his sentences concurrently.

“I’m terribly sorry for my actions,” Burgess said. “I started getting high, running with the wrong crowd.”

A sheriff’s deputy allowed Burgess to hug and kiss his 2-year-old son, Alex, before he was taken back to the jail. One of his victims hugged the boy, too. Burgess was arrested Sept. 29 after a police officer found him hiding in a shed near the 5 Mile Shopping Center.

That same day, an elderly woman identified Burgess in a photo montage as the man who accosted her outside Huckleberries market on South Monroe. Police spotted Burgess at the 5 Mile Shopping Center after recognizing him from surveillance video.

Burgess was convicted of four women between Sept. 20 and Sept. 28.

His first victim was a 96-year-old woman who uses a walker.

“She was absolutely frightened about having to come into court and testify and face Mr. Burgess,” said Deputy Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz. “I believe it still has an impact on her today.”

Burgess wrestled and was on the honor roll in high school. He told Judge Maryann Moreno that he became addicted to OxyContin while a student at Spokane Community College.

He was born in California but moved here in middle school with his father. His mother is a crack cocaine addict who served prison time for welfare fraud, said public defender Brooke Hagara.

“Mr. Burgess is a very intelligent young man who has a lot of potential and has a lot of remorse for what he’s done,” Hagara said.

Burgess’ father, uncle and aunt testified at his sentencing.

“I know he would have never, ever did this in the right state of mind,” said his aunt.

A man who robbed a Spokane pharmacy of OxyContin in June was sentenced to 31 months in prison today.

Nicholas A. Blessing, 28, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery for the June 16 holdup at the Walgreens at 2105 E. Wellesley Ave. The plea deal approved this morning dismissed three counts of second-degree assault.

It was the same plea deal Blessing was set to take in October but asked for more time after bailing out of jail the night before.

Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Dale Nagy said at the time that he would rescind the plea deal and pursue all four charges, plus weapons enhancements.

But the weapons enhancements probably wouldn’t have stuck because Blessing had a starter pistol instead of a handgun.

The assault charges would have been wrapped in with the robbery charge anyway because the assaults occurred within the course of the robbery, Nagy said today.

Blessing turned himself in June 29.

Surveillance photos showed him walking into the store Employees said he pointed a gun at them and demanded OxyContin, then banged the base of the gun on the counter and stated, “hurry up. Hurry up. I’m not kidding,” according to a probable cause affidavit.

Blessing was taken into custody immediately after his sentencing.

Two pharmacy robbers who pleaded guilty in court today likely will get starkly different sentences.

The difference in the cases of Lance W. Shaw, 27, and Jeremy M. Mace, 23, comes down to who used a weapon and who didn’t.

Shaw was sentenced to nine months in jail and 12 months probation after pleading guilty to an amended charge of second-degree robbery. Mace pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and will be sentenced in January. A plea agreement calls for him to serve 31 months in prison and 18 months probation.

Mace was arrested April 29 after a knife-point methadone robbery at Rite Aid on North Division Street. A woman saw him running through the parking lot and followed him in her car as she called 911. (Read more here.)

Shaw was arrested June 22 after he called 911 from a pay phone near the Walgreens at Division and Empire and said a man was holding a baby at gunpoint on East Mission Avenue and demanding crack cocaine. Police arrested him as he walked out of the pharmacy with OxyContin.

Though Shaw told clerks he had a gun, he never displayed a weapon, leading to his lesser charge. He’s to report to Spokane County Jail by Dec. 5.

Mace will be sentenced in January. A plea deal asks for 31 months in prison and drops a weapons enhancement for the first-degree robbery charge.

Shaw had taken 100 mg of Prozac the night before the robbery, his lawyer said, about 50 times his prescribed dosage.

A father of a 3-year-old boy, Shaw told Judge Tari Eitzen he used to be a machinist and doesn’t think he’ll have a problem getting a job. He’s going to addiction counseling and said his OxyContin addiction “started as casual use which quickly escalated.”

Shaw apologized to clerks during the robbery and said he didn’t care if he got caught because he needed addiction treatment, according to court documents.

Mace told Eitzen he doesn’t go to school, doesn’t have a job, and has one child with another on the way.

His girlfriend cried in the courtroom as he fought back tears at the defendant’s table.

“This doesn’t have to be the end of your life; you can get through this,” Eitzen said.

She commended Mace for having “the sense not to bring your little child into court.”

Both Mace and Shaw are out of jail on bond.

A man charged with robbing two pharmacies is now accused of trying to flee from police before his arrest. 

Aaron M. Weyrauch, 27, (right, in 2007) appeared in Spokane County Superior Court via video Wednesday, two months after a police chase that ended in his arrest.

Weyrauch faces a felony charge of attempting to elude police along with two counts of second-degree robbery in connection with OxyContin heists Aug. 24 at the Shopko at 4515 S. Regal St., and Sept. 5 at the Rite Aid across the street, 4514 S. Regal St. (Read more here.)

His bond for the eluding charge was set at $10,000 Wednesday. He has a $30,000 bond for the robbery charges.

Police stopped Weyrauch Sept. 15 near 3rd Avenue and Crestline Street, but he sped away and abandoned his 2005 Volvo near 33rd Avenue and Grand Boulevard, according to court documents filed this week.

Weyrauch was arrested as he hid in the back of another car. With him was Dustin J. Rockstrom, 26, who also is accused of the pharmacy robberies.

Rockstrom is out of jail on $30,000 bond. Weyrauch is in jail on $30,000 bond for the robbery charges and $10,000 for the eluding charge, which was set today.

Weyrauch’s convictions include second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful imprisonment (domestic violence) and third-degree domestic violence assault, second degree possession of stolen property and conspiracy to possess a controlled substance - cocaine.

Before his criminal activity made the paper, Weyrauch (left, in 1997) was profiled in the Spokesman-Review Valley Voice as a successful skier who qualified for the Junior Olympics. A ski coach was impressed with Weyrauch’s dedication to the sport.

Read that story here.

A pregnant woman due in June will spend more than 2 1/2 years in prison for robbing a pharmacy of OxyContin last year.

Sunshine L. “Sunny” VanCleave, 35, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery Wednesday for using a BB gun to rob the Bi Mart in Deer Park of the powerful painkiller on Nov. 2. Her accomplice, James C. Hutson, 24, was given the same 31-month sentence in May.

After her arrest, VanCleave swallowed a handful of OxyContin and was treated at a local hospital, where she’s accused of strangling a nurse with a phone cord. She’s expected to plead guilty to a third-degree assault charge and will be given a sentence to run concurrent with the robbery sentence, said Deputy Prosecutor Tony Hazel.

VanCleave had no criminal history until her marriage fell apart a couple years ago and she started to “self medicate” with OxyContin, public defender Jeff Compton said.

Compton asked for Judge Maryann Moreno to spare VanCleave a prison sentence because of her health problems and other reasons, but Moreno said her health concerns can be addressed by the Washington Department of Corrections.

Hazel said he was concerned “that she may resort back to drug use while she’s pregnant.” VanCleave completed a drug addiction treatment program and said “I feel like I won’t ever go back to (drugs) ever again.”

Moreno said it was sad to see her sent to prison, but that the Legislature sets the sentencing standard for charges, and the prosecutor’s office won’t budge on the first-degree robbery charge if a gun was involved.

As her two other children cried quietly, VanCleave’s oldest daughter asked Moreno to change her mind after the sentence was handed down.

“I would really, really love to spend this Christmas with her,” she said. “Both of our parents have pretty much abandoned us, and now one of them is coming back and she’s being sent to prison?”

VanCleave spoke with The Spokesman-Review about her OxyContin addiction in January, saying “The devil got his grips in me really bad, and my kids are suffering for it.”

Read that story here.

Surveillance photos of an attempted robbery at Walgreens in Hayden Tuesday evening show the would-be robber wore a billed beanie hat that appears to match the hat worn by a robber at the Post Falls Walgreens Sept. 30.

The man walked out the Walgreens at Highway 95 and Honeysuckle without OxyContin about 5 p.m. yesterday after an employee said none of the powerful painkiller was in stock. Photos show him wearing black pants and a dark blue and black winter coat with the hood over an orange billed beanie hat.

The bill matches the bill of a hat worn Sept. 30, pictured at right, when a man handed an employee at the pharmacy at 706 E. Seltice a note saying he had a gun and demanding the drug. (Read more here. ) 

Maj. Ben Wolfinger of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department said investigators haven’t concluded if the robberies are connected.

“We don’t know 100 percent for sure, but we’re certainly looking at that,” Wolfinger said.

Walgreens installed time release safes in all Washington stores this summer (read about it here. ), and no robberies have been reported at Spokane County stores since.

A 20-year-old woman accused of robbing a pharmacy of OxyContin pleaded innocent to the charge today.

Ariel A. Arrieta is charged with first-degree robbery in connection with a pill heist at the Rite Aid at 5520 N. Division St. on Sept. 27. She appeared in court today with her private defense attorney, Chris Phelps, and remains in jail on $30,000 bond.

William E. Higgins, 21, (right) was booked into Spokane County Jail just after midnight Sunday on the same charge after police say he and Jed L. Boles, 31, were with Arrieta when she robbed the pharmacy. Higgins posted bond Monday night after appearing in Spokane County Superior Court.

Boles checked himself into Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, according to a probable cause affidavit, but a hospital representative said he wasn’t there today.

Arrieta also is a suspect in an attempted robbery Oct. 12 at the Rite Aid at Wandermere Mall. Read more here.

Two Deer Park men have been identified as suspects in an OxyContin robbery that police linked to a 20-year-old woman.

Jed L. Boles, 31, (left) and William E. Higgins, 21, (right) face charges of first-degree robbery for allegedly helping Ariel A. Arrieta rob the Rite Aid at 5520 N. Division St. on Sept. 27, according to the Spokane Police Department.

Arrieta’s boyfriend told police she drove with two men, whom police identified as Higgins and Boles, to the pharmacy, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Arrieta also is a suspect in an attempted robbery Oct. 12 at the Rite Aid at Wandermere Mall. Read more here.

OxyContin robberies are beginning to be upstaged by armed robberies at seemingly random locations: ice cream shops, restaurants, anywhere with cash. Read more about it here.

An Iraq war veteran who robbed a pharmacy of OxyContin while undergoing drug abuse counseling will stay in jail for three more months.

Terran D. Schatz, 24, was sentenced to six months in jail Friday after pleading guilty to second-degree robbery.

He’ll be credited with about 120 days he’s served since his arrest June 12, five days after he robbed the Walgreens at 2830 S. Grand Blvd. An additional charge of second-degree assault as dismissed as part of the plea deal approved Friday by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno.

Schatz joined the Army when he was 18 and spent six months in Iraq. He was in drug counseling at the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center when he walked into the pharmacy and handed an employee a note stating he had a gun and demanding OxyContin. No gun was displayed.

Schatz apologized in court Friday.

“I know I can do right,” he said. “I’m just going to try, try real hard.”

Moreno suggested Schatz find a different treatment program.

“I’m not sensing that it is the right program for you,” she said. “I’m not suggesting that it’s not, but I’m not hearing the insight from you that I think I should be hearing at this point.”

Schatz is the second OxyContin robber to avoid a prison sentence in the last month.

Read about the other one here.

 Spokane police have arrested a 5-foot-tall woman in connection with a Sept. 27 pharmacy robbery and believe she may have been struck with a metal bar this week in a thwarted attempt at a different store.

Ariel A. Arrieta, 20, appeared in Spokane County Superior Court on one count of first-degree robbery in connection with an OxyContin holdup on Sept. 27 at a Rite Aid Pharmacy, 5520 N. Division St. She’s being held in Spokane County Jail on $30,000 bail.

Police said she is also a suspect in the attempted robbery Monday night at the Rite Aid at Wandermere. In that incident, a woman also described as 5-foot-tall handed an employee a note demanding OxyContin but was turned away when another employee hit her with a metal bar, causing her to run away.

A tip from a woman who said she’s twice helped Arrieta with her OxyContin addiction helped police identify her as a suspect, according to a probable cause affidavit.

“(She) not only noticed Ariel looked like the armed robber, but the robbery suspect in the video walked just like Ariel,” according to the affidavit.

Arrieta’s boyfriend told police a friend had given her a handgun and that person and two others drove with them to Spokane. The boyfriend waited in a parking lot for Arrieta and the two to return from the robbery, he told police.

“Ariel and the two unnamed coconspirators argued over who should get what quantity of the OxyContin,” according to the affidavit. “The three subjects eventually each took an amount of OxyContin.”

Watch a video of Arrieta allegedly in action here.

Video from the botched robbery Monday night hasn’t been released, but something tells me it might be worthy of failblog.org.

The only other unsolved pharmacy robbery occured at the Walgreens in Post Falls. Read about it here.

OxyContin addiction drove a young man to rob elderly women in grocery store parking lots to support his habit, court documents allege.

Ryan X. Burgess, 21, was scheduled to plead innocent today to first-degree robbery, first-degree theft and two counts of second-degree robbery in connection with four incidents in late September.

In each of the cases, the victims said Burgess approached them in a grocery store parking lot and took their purses or demanded money.

One of the alleged victims is a 96-year-old woman who uses a walker, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Burgess told detectives his OxyContin addiction ruined his life and that he used all robbery proceeds to buy pills, according to the affidavit. He remains in Spokane County Jail. Burgess’ arraignment came the morning after a couple of strange OxyContin-related reports from law enforcement.

In the first case, a man was shocked with a Taser and arrested after trying to run from police investigating reports of two men preparing to rob the Rite Aid at Argonne and Mission.

Jason M. Kingsley, 28, was due in court today on one charge of third-degree assault against a law enforcement officer. His alleged accomplice remains at large.

In the second case, a would-be robber was hit in the head with a metal bar by an employee at Rite Aid, 12315 N. Highway 395.

The suspected robber, described as a woman wearing heavy makeup or of a Middle Eastern background, handed an employee a note claiming she had a gun and demanding the drug about 8:35 p.m.

A man scheduled to accept a plea deal in an OxyContin robbery will instead go to trial on all charges after asking for a delay today.

Nicholas A. Blessing, 29, posted $15,000 bond yesterday, then told his public defender, Jeff Compton, he needed more time before being sentenced today.

Deputy Prosecutor Dale Nagy refused to delay the sentencing and said he would instead pursue all four charges, plus weapons enhancements. He had offered a plea deal that called for Blessing to plead guilty to one count of first-degree robbery and the state to dismiss the three counts of second-degree assault against three Walgreens employees.

Blessing turned himself in June 29 for the June 16 robbery at the Walgreens at 2105 E. Wellesley Ave.

Surveillance photos clearly show Blessing walking into the store about 5 p.m. Employees said he pointed a gun at them and demanded OxyContin, then banged the base of the gun on the counter and stated, “hurry up. Hurry up. I’m not kidding,” according to a probable cause affidavit.

Blessing, who’s set to go to trial Nov. 2, faces significantly more time if convicted on all four charges, and even more once the weapons enhancements are considered. He declined comment after court.

A man who robbed a pharmacy of OxyContin will spend nine months in jail.

Tom E. Snell, 24, will be on probation for a year after he’s released on a second-degree robbery conviction. Snell pleaded guilty to the charge Thursday, which was amended from first-degree robbery because he never displayed a weapon when he robbed the Rite Aid drugstore at 29th Avenue and Regal Street on July 6.

Snell had no prior felony convictions when he handed an employee a note saying “Don’t be stupid. Hurry up. I have a gun,” according to court documents.

Snell apologized Thursday.

“The root of my problems is my addiction,” he said.

Snell, a Lakeside High School graduate, told Judge Maryann Moreno he got addicted to drugs while a student at Eastern Washington University.

A construction worker and a tipster led police to identify Snell as the robber. The worker identified the robber’s getaway car as a blue Toyota pickup, and a tip based on a news report led police to 7th Avenue and Adams Street.

There, they found a truck matching the description from the robbery. It was registered to Snell in Nine Mile Falls, according to a search warrant. He was arrested July 10 when he reported for work as an installation technician for Comcast.

Before he was sentenced, Snell told Moreno he thought nine months was “excessive.” Moreno let him know that pharmacy robbers often end up in prison for more than three years and that he was lucky his case allowed him a second-degree robbery charge instead of first.

“Count your blessings,” she told him.

Post Falls police have released photos of an OxyContin robbery Wednesday.

An employee at Walgreens, 706 E. Seltice Way, called 911 just after 5:33 p.m. and said a man with a bandanna covering his mouth handed her a note saying he had a gun and demanding the prescription pain killer.

Police were already en route to the store to respond to a silent hold-up alarm.

The photos show a man in an orange and tan billed beanie hat walking down an aisle at 5:29 p.m., talking to a pharmacy employee at 5:33 p.m., then walking out of the store at 5:35 p.m.

He wore a white hooded sweatshirt with tan sleeves, dark jeans and dark sunglasses. Witnesses described him as in his early 20s with a thin build, slight facial hair and about 5-foot-8 to 6-feet tall. Anyone with information is asked to call the Post Falls Police Department at (208) 773-3517.

Police don’t know if the robbery is connected to this robbery Sunday night at a north Spokane Rite Aid (the robber fled in a SUV with Idaho plates; the company that makes OxyContin is offering a reward).

While pharmacy robberies have plagued Spokane, Kootenai County has seen only a few in the last couple of years.

Walgreens installed time release safes in all Washington stores this summer (read about it here), and no robberies have been reported at those stores since.

Purdue Pharma LP is offering up to $1,000 for tips that help arrest the robber, who’s described as Hispanic, 5-feet tall, 100 pounds with a hooded sweatshirt.

She handed the pharmacist at Rite Aid, 5520 North Division Street, a note demanding OxyContin at 11:31 p.m. and fled in a black, 4-door mid-sized SUV, according to Crime Stoppers.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS, or submit tips online at www.crimestoppersinlandnorthwest.org.

Tipsters do not have to leave a name but should provide a code name or number.

A young man accused of robbing two pharmacies of OxyContin last month was to plead not guilty in Spokane County Superior Court today.

Dustin J. Rockstrom, 26, has been in jail since Sept. 15, charged with two-counts of second-degree robbery for OxyContin heists Aug. 24 at the Shopko at 4515 S. Regal St. (pictured above), and Sept. 5 at the Rite Aid across the street, 4514 S. Regal St.

In each case, a white man who appeared to be wearing a wig handed an employee a note demanding OxyContin and told the pharmacist “don’t make me come over the counter,” before fleeing with the drug, according to a probable cause affidavit filed last week.

Rockstrom remains in jail, but his alleged getaway driver, Aaron M. Weyrauch, 27, is in Benton County Jail and hasn’t been charged in the case.

Two anonymous tips led police to the men and an apartment at 9th and Adams where they were allegedly selling OxyContin, according to the affidavit, which was prepared by Detective Kip Hollenbeck.

One informant “also revealed that Rockstrom and Weyrauch intended to rob a pharmacy in Moses Lake, WA on 9/14/09,” Hollenbeck wrote. Drug detectives were already investigating the apartment for OxyContin sales. They searched the apartment Sept. 15, seizing pills, drug paraphernalia and suspected heroin. They also found the wig thought to have been worn by Rockstrom in the robberies.

Rockstrom and Weyrauch were arrested after a short car chase near 29th and Grand.

A third man, Dalen J. McMillon, 27, was with them and is under investigation for selling OxyContin with Weyrauch, according to a search warrant.

Police say he told them he knew Rockstrom and Weyrauch were responsible for other robberies, too. OxContin-maker Purdue Pharma had offered a reward for information that helped solve the robberies.

The company is touting a new version of the OxyContin pill that makes it more difficult to abuse. Read an Associated Press story on the new pill by clicking the link below.

Continue reading Searching for robber, police find possible Oxy ring »

Another day, another OxyContin robber sentenced.

A 25-year-old man who robbed two Walgreens at gunpoint late last year will spend more than three years in prison.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Annette Plese sentenced Adam J. Dally today to 40 months in prison and 18 to 36 months probation in a plea deal for first-degree robbery and second-degree burglary.

He’s also banned from the pharmacy chain for 20 years.

Dally robbed the Walgreens at 2830 S. Grand Blvd Nov. 26, then the Liberty Lake Walgreens on Dec. 5.

Liberty Lake Det. Ray Bourgeois spent months building a case against Dally, who was in Seattle when an arrest warrant was issued, records show.

People who led Bourgeois to Dally included a former girlfriend who claimed to have been having sex with him in exchange for drugs and heard him brag about robbing the pharmacy, according to court documents.

A man who robbed a Walgreens of OxyContin will spend 14 months in prison. Richard T. Ludvik, 23, was sentenced on a second-degree robbery charge Wednesday.

He was given a concurrent sentence today for felony possession of a controlled substance, marijuana. The charge was originally possession with intent to distribute. He’ll be on probation and will undergo drug treatment.

“Mr. Ludvik has got some serious work to do on a drug addiction,” said public defender Edward Carroll. “He’s well aware of that.”

Carroll said Ludvik has a lot of support from family members, many who attended his sentencing Wednesday.

“He does have something to go back to,” Carroll said. “They’d very much like to see him keep clean.”

Ludvik turned himself Feb. 10, a few weeks after police say he robbed the Walgreens at 29th Avenue and Grand Boulevard on Jan. 21.

His getaway driver, Joshua G. Dixon, 26, was arrested that night and told police he’d driven Ludvik to the pharmacy in exchange for a couple of OxyContin pills.

Dixon was sentenced last month to 12 months in jail on a reduced charge of first-degree rendering criminal assistance.

The drug charge Ludvik pleaded to was from an arrest last year. Ludvik’s sister and nephew attended his sentencing. He thanked them for coming before being taken back to the jail.

“Good luck. Good luck. Chin up,” his sister said.

Spokane police think one man is responsible for two unsolved OxyContin robberies at South Hill pharmacies in the past two weeks.

The robberies occurred Aug. 24 at the Shopko at 4515 S. Regal St., and Sept. 5 at the Rite Aid across the street, 4514 S. Regal St. In each case, a white man who appeared to be wearing a wig handed an employee a note demanding OxyContin, then fled with the drug.

Shopko surveillance photos show the robber wore sunglasses, a black T-shirt, blue jeans, white sneakers and a dark baseball hat with a white logo. (See all the photos here.)

Witnesses said he was about 6-foot-3. Witnesses to the Rite Aid robbery described the man as 6-foot-2 with fake facial hair, white shirt, blue jeans and a white beanie-style hat over a dark wig.

The company that makes OxyContin and has come under scrutiny for lying about its addictiveness, Purdue Pharma, is offering up to $1,000 for information that solves the Shopko robbery.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS, or submit tips online at www.crimestoppersinlandnorthwest.org.

Tipsters do not have to leave a name but should provide a code name or number.

The company that makes OxyContin is offering a $1,000 reward for information that solves a Spokane pharmacy robbery Sunday.

A man in his 20s with dark stubble and possibly a black wig walked into Shopko, 4515 S. Regal Street, at 9:42 p.m. and handed the pharmacist a note demanding OxyContin.

He left with the note and an undisclosed amount of the drug, police said. Surveillance photos show the robber wore sunglasses, a black t-shirt, blue jeans, white sneakers and a dark baseball hat with a white logo.

No weapon was displayed, according to police. Witnesses described the robber as a white man in his 20s, about 6-foot-3. Purdue Pharma is offering the reward through Crime Stoppers. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS, or submit tips online at www.crimestoppersinlandnorthwest.org.

Tipsters do not have to leave a name but should provide a code name or number.

Based in Stamford, Conn., Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin, a powerful pain killer, to the prescription drug market in 1996 and has come under scrutiny for lying about its addictiveness.

In 2003, the company created a program, RxPatrol, to help police and pharmacies track prescription drug robberies.

A 24-year-old convicted robber told a judge today how he went from living with his girlfriend and their 7-year-old daughter to putting a knife to a man’s throat to get a pharmacist to hand over a bag of OxyContin pills. 

“How did you get to this point?” Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno asked Michael A. Miller. “I wish I could tell you. It happened so fast,” replied Miller, who pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery with a deadly weapon. “The addiction really blindsided me. The next thing I knew, I had nothing.”

Miller’s victim in the case? Lawyer John R. Clark, husband of Superior Court Judge Ellen Kalama Clark. He spoke at Miller’s sentencing.

Read the rest of Thomas Clouse’s story here.

Arraignment for an accused pharmacy robber was postponed as he applies for a public defender.

After a relatively quiet period, Spokane has seen a surge in pharmacy robberies.

At least three robberies and one attempted robbery have occurred since the beginning of June.

Nicholas A. Blessing, 28, (right), who’s accused of stealing OxyContin from the Walgreens at 2105 E. Wellesley Ave. on June 16, turned himself in on June 28.

Only July 6, another man robbed the Rite Aid drugstore at 29th Avenue and Regal Street of OxyContin. Tom E. Snell, 24, was arrested Friday for first-degree robbery.

Search warrants show detectives had little trouble solving either robbery.

Tips poured in referencing Blessing after police released a surveillance photo,

A detective contacted Blessing’s family, who agreed to help him turn himself in.

“(Blessing’s father) states that Nicholas told him that five minutes after he had done the robbery he knew he had made a mistake,” according to a search warrant prepared by Spokane police Detective Marty Hill.

In Snell’s case, witnesses and a tipster led police to identify him as a suspect.

Witnesses identified the robber’s getaway car as a blue Toyota pickup, and a tip based on a news report led police to 7th Avenue and Adams Street.

There, they found a truck matching the description from the robbery. It was registered to Snell in Nine Mile Falls, according to a search warrant. Snell was arrested July 10.

Both accused robbers remain in Spokane County Jail.

Spokane’s newest pharamcy robber apparently didn’t think he had much to hide.

This photo shows the man police say robbed a north Spokane Walgreens of OxyContin at gunpoint Tuesday walking into the store dressed like a normal guy - no attempt was made to conceal his identity.

“it kind of shows you the addictive nature of the drug,” said Lt. Dave McGovern. “It’s not like we enver arrest these people. They know people are being arrested and they still do it anyway.”

Another sign of OxyContin’s popularity: the number of tips police receive on robberies that turn out false.

Lots of people know someone they think is capable of robbing a pharmacy for the drug, police said.

In this case, police anticipate a quick arrest. A tip based on a surveillance photo led to the arrest of suspect in the last robbery at at the South Hill Walgreens.

The company that makes OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

The company introduced OxyContin in the late 90s and has been under scrutiny for lying about the drug’s addictiveness and encouraging doctors to over prescribe it.

Do you recognize this man? If so, you could get a reward from Crime Stoppers.

The photo is of Sunday’s robbery at the South Hill Walgreens - the first successful OxyContin pharmacy robbery in Spokane in several months.

Read my story here.