Man pleads not guilty in drug thefts

A Huntington Beach man pleaded not guilty to robbery charges Tuesday stemming from a spate of OxyContin thefts at pharmacies throughout Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, officials said.

Kevin Matthew Patch, 22, has been charged with three counts of robbery, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

He is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail pending a preliminary hearing July 17. Police allege that Patch is part of a ring dubbed the “Oxy Bandits,” believed responsible for stealing large quantities of the drug from pharmacies throughout Southern California. A Huntington Beach SWAT team, with help from officers of other Orange County police agencies, arrested Patch after a standoff May 7 at his apartment on Venice Avenue, authorities said.

According to Det. Jim Allard of the Huntington Beach Police Department robbery/homicide unit, all of the Orange County agencies worked together and followed up leads that led to the apprehension of the “Oxy Bandits.”

Patch had been identified from surveillance pictures taken from the first CVS OxyContin robbery video in Orange County at 19121 Beach Boulevard in January, and from police department fliers and media reports, police said.

Also arrested in connection with the drug thefts were Cody Waner and Cody Dunn of Riverside, both 22 and former students from Norco High. Dunn was arrested May 3 in Riverside by Costa Mesa police; Waner was arrested in Murrieta in early April. There have been about 20 OxyContin robberies since January throughout the counties. Police tied the thefts together because of the similarities in which the suspects gave notes to pharmacy clerks using similar “verbiage” that referenced guns. However, no guns were used, authorities said.