Bail set in Farmingville pharmacy robbery

An admitted addict who officials said threatened "someone will get hurt" if he didn't get drugs and money from a CVS pharmacy last Sunday was held on $200,000 cash bail at his arraignment Friday.

Police said they had gotten more than 30 tips about the robbery, which took place just one week after four people were shot to death in another drugstore robbery, at Haven Drugs in Medford.

At the arraignment in District Court in Central Islip, Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Scott Gross said Patrick O'Donnell, 22, handed a clerk a note demanding all the Farmingville store's oxycodone, morphine and cash. O'Donnell also told the clerk that "someone will get hurt" if it wasn't done in 30 seconds, Gross said.

O'Donnell, police said, fled with drugs and $200 in cash in a brown paper bag.

While police actively searched for O'Donnell, his attorney, Rudolph F.X. Migliore of Commack, said his parents had arranged for their son to turn himself in at a local police precinct, where he surrendered Thursday night. At the Friday arraignment, Migliore said O'Donnell worked as a meter reader and is an addict who is seeking treatment. He said O'Donnell's father is a retired postal worker and his mother is a school nurse. "They are heartbroken," he said.

O'Donnell worked as a meter reader for National Grid until his arrest, spokeswoman Wendy Ladd said. "He is an employee but he's currently at 'no pay' status pending further investigation," Ladd said, adding that he was hired in February.

Judge Dennis Cohen set an alternate $400,000 bail bond, but Migliore said O'Donnell's parents would be unable to make either. The case is expected to be presented to a grand jury.

Friday in the Sixth Precinct in Coram, Det. Lt. Gregory McVeigh said there is a video of O'Donnell from a pharmacy security camera. Video security systems are a deterrent and help in solving crimes, he said. He urged business owners to consider getting a good video security system.

Surveillance video at the CVS shows a man asking about the availability of specific prescription items, police said. The man leaves the Horseblock Road store and returns with a demand note.

O'Donnell has one previous charge, McVeigh said, a violation for possession of marijuana in May at Smith Point County Park.