Disabled Man Pleads Not Guilty in Holdup

William Hart, 75, accused of robbing a downtown San Diego bank of $70 in a desperate bid to get money for heart medicine, broke down sobbing in his wheelchair Wednesday after pleading not guilty during a hearing in U.S. District Court.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Hart said in an interview before the session. “Anybody under the same conditions would have done the same thing. . . . I’m not scared.”

Hart, who lives on $718 a month in combined Social Security and state disability benefits, was released on his own recognizance pending a future hearing. If convicted of robbing the bank, he could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A retired merchant seaman, Hart suffers from a bad heart and said that a physician prescribed a costly brand-name medication whose purchase was not covered by his Medi-Cal insurance. The medication, Cardizem SR in 90-milligram capsules, was prescribed for heart rhythm and pulse beat, Hart said.

Hart was a regular customer at Longs Drug Store in Horton Plaza, where he was arrested after the robbery as he tried to have the prescription filled.

A source at Longs, who asked not to be identified, said Cardizem SR was not listed there as a drug Hart was eligible to receive under Medi-Cal. Paperwork allowing Hart to receive the medication under Medi-Cal was apparently at another pharmacy several blocks away, the source said.

Hart’s physician, Dr. John Berger, confirmed Wednesday that the medication was available to Hart at two other pharmacies in the area. He was not sure whether Hart was aware of this.

“Some people have difficulty, for a variety of reasons, of meeting their own needs,” Berger said. “I know that every effort was done to give him what was needed.”

Berger said he received a phone call from either Longs or a social worker Tuesday asking him to contact the pharmacy. Berger said he called back, but was not able to get through to the pharmacist. He refused to discuss the issue further without the permission of the patient.

“I hated to have to go to this extreme,” Hart said before his court hearing, but insisted that he had tried every other way to find money to buy the medicine.

Three years ago, Hart said, he suffered a stroke and two heart attacks. He has been on medication since, he said. His right side is partly paralyzed, his attorney said.

“I have no relatives,” said Hart, who said he has lived in San Diego for eight years and was once married in Japan. “I’m fighting my own battle, and I haven’t given up yet.”

On Tuesday at about 11:30 a.m., Hart went to his bank, HomeFed, where he had only $4 left in his account, he said. He said he demanded three $20 bills and a $10 bill, warning the teller that he had a bottle of explosive nitroglycerin.

“I saw she was real shook up,” he said of the teller. “I’m real sorry about that.”

Moments later, Hart was arrested at the pharmacy, where he had gone to purchase the medicine using the stolen money. A security guard from the bank had followed him.

He was released after being interviewed by city detectives and FBI investigators.

In his room before his court appearance Wednesday, Hart displayed a capful of the yellow and maroon pills. He said he had bought the medication after an elderly woman, whom he had never seen before, handed him an envelope with $100 and a note saying “Blessings from a friend.”

An anonymous donor, who saw news reports of the case, has offered to pay for a year’s supply of medication, said Steve Hubachek, Hart’s attorney.

“He’s in a terrible position,” Hubachek said. “He’s got severe health problems. He’s got no one to turn to. . . . My view is this is not the type of person the government has to be expending their time on.”

Maria Arroyo-Tabin, chief of the crime division at the U.S. attorney’s ofice in San Diego, said federal authorities had yet to decide whether to proceed with the prosecution.

According to a report filed by the FBI, Hart had one other criminal conviction, a 1980 case in which he pleaded guilty to brandishing a firearm.

Hart is slated to appear Jan. 29 for a preliminary hearing.