Accused White Cross robber returned to Idaho

SANDPOINT - Bail is set at a quarter-million dollars for a Washington state man accused of holding up a Priest River pharmacy at gunpoint and making off with an undisclosed amount of narcotics earlier this month.

Daniel Patrick Hawkins is charged with robbery. Judge Debra Heise sustained Hawkins' $250,000 bail and appointed a public defender to represent him.

A hearing is pending to determine if the state possesses enough evidence to justify trying Hawkins on the felony charge.

Heise declined on Monday to reduce Hawkins' bail at this time.

In Idaho, robbery carries a mandatory minimum punishment of five years in prison.

The maximum punishment for robbery is life in prison, Idaho Code states.

Hawkins, a 22-year-old from Diamond Lake, is charged with robbing the White Cross Pharmacy of OxyContin on Oct. 6. Hawkins reportedly gave store staff a note demanding the powerful painkiller and showed what appeared to be a firearm in his sweatshirt pocket, Priest River Police Chief Ray Roberts testified when an arrest warrant was sought on Oct. 10.

Video surveillance captured images of Hawkins' getaway vehicle, which was registered to him, court documents said. Investigators put together a photo lineup and Hawkins was positively identified as the perpetrator, Roberts told the court.

Hawkins was arrested in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Oct. 18.