AUBURN — Two men appeared in Androscoggin County  Superior Court on Friday morning after they were indicted earlier in the week in connection with the attempted robbery of a Lewiston drug store.

Ryan White, 25, of 17 Pettingill St., and Alexander Madore, 25, of 35 Fifth St., Auburn were each charged with Class B robbery, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.

Police said White and Madore tried to get pain killers from a Rite Aid Pharmacy at 987 Lisbon St. in Lewiston on Nov. 4. An hour later that day, they robbed a Rite Aid Pharmacy at 62 West Gray Road in Gray, police said.

White is on probation from a 2009 conviction on two drug store robberies in Lewiston. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, all suspended, plus three years of probation. He recently completed counseling through Family Treatment Drug Court as part of his sentence.

On Friday, his attorney, Jason Dionne, told the judge he had filed a motion for a mental health evaluation for White. He asked that White not enter a plea and that his arraignment be postponed.

Madore pleaded not guilty Friday.

His bail remained the same at $25,000 cash, $7,500 with supervised release.

Conditions of his release include no possession or use of alcohol and drugs, subject to random search and tests. He was ordered to have no contact with White and not enter any pharmacy without prior approval of the court. He also was ordered to have no contact with a pharmacist at the Lewiston Rite Aid.

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Matulis told the judge about the Gray robbery and pending charges.

Although Madore’s only criminal history includes a conviction for drunken driving, Matulis said, “We have some very high safety concerns in this case.”

According to court papers, a man later identified as Madore entered the Lewiston Rite Aid on Nov. 4 shortly before noon wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses. He held a note, not a prescription, with the word “Percocet” with the dosage written on it, according to a police affidavit.

He kept asking the pharmacist what she was doing as she tried to avoid him. He put his hand into his jacket pocket “which made her think that he may have a weapon,” Lewiston police Detective Wayne Clifford wrote in his affidavit.

At the Rite Aid in Gray, a man later identified as Madore wore roughly the same outfit. He showed a note to that pharmacist that read: “Give me the Percocets.” Madore “mumbled something about a gun” and was given an undisclosed number of pills, police said.

The getaway vehicle, a 2005 Silver Jeep Wrangler, was traced back to White’s mother. In it, police found a marker they believed was used to write the robbery note.

A check of the GPS turned up the address of the Gray pharmacy. A check of White’s cell phone records showed his phone had been in Gray around the time of that robbery.

Later, fingerprints found on discarded prescription bottles from the Gray robbery matched Madore’s.

As a result of the investigation, White and Madore were found days later and arrested. Both remain at the Androscoggin County Jail.

The Gray robbery case is being handled in Cumberland County Superior Court.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

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