$50K cash-only bail for suspect in 4 robberies

PROVO — The morning after Provo police arrested and booked a man for the investigation of four robberies, he asked 4th District Court Judge Steven Hansen for a "reasonable bail" so he could get out, get an attorney and deal with the charges.

The judge, however, disagreed, setting bail at $50,000 cash only, as requested by Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan Peters.

In what police say was his fourth robbery in 51 days, the man, 25, allegedly stole more than $1,000 worth of OxyContin and Percocet from Park Pharmacy on Center Street with the threat of a loaded handgun.

He then allegedly led police on a high-speed car chase that ended when he crashed into a barbed-wire fence.

Police say they have connected him with the three previous robberies for several reasons: The robber was wearing the "exact same" black hoody, gloves and baggy pants in each robbery; the shoes he was wearing when he was arrested matched the shoe pattern found at the third robbery; his threats were reportedly the same; he handed employees a plastic grocery bag to fill with cash or drugs in all four instances; and in each robbery he used or threatened to use a gun.

"In each of the robberies (he) threatened to kill people," the arresting officer wrote in an affidavit.

Peters called the charges extremely serious, especially since the man threatened people with a loaded gun.

The man was arrested in 2004 and spent three years in the Utah County Jail. He was released in September.