Actor Pleads Not Guilty to Pharmacy Burglary : Courts: Hearings for Adam Rich are also held on charges of shoplifting and drug possession.

In one of three hearings on separate criminal counts he faced in San Fernando Valley courts Wednesday--in addition to a fourth accusation pending in Beverly Hills--former child actor Adam Rich pleaded not guilty to a charge that he broke into a pharmacy to steal drugs.

Rich, 22, who as a child played Nicholas Bradford in the long-running TV series “Eight Is Enough,” entered the plea in Van Nuys Superior Court. He was temporarily jailed when Judge John Fisher raised his bail from $5,000 to $20,000, saying the previous amount was too low in view of Rich’s many arrests.

The actor faces trial in Fisher’s court on a burglary charge for allegedly smashing through windows at the Medallion Prescription Pharmacy in West Hills on April 6 in an unsuccessful attempt to steal painkillers, which prosecutors say he is addicted to.

In addition, hearings were held for Rich in other Valley courts Wednesday on charges of shoplifting and possession of a stolen syringe containing a painkilling drug. In Beverly Hills, he faces a hearing Nov. 7 for allegedly failing to show up for a court session while on probation for a drunk-driving conviction.

“The judge surprised us,” Rich’s attorney, Floyd Siegal, said of the bail increase. Siegal said Rich checked into a drug treatment center last week. “I thought it would be best if he would be allowed to return.” he said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Teri M. Hutchison did not ask for the bail increase but said afterward that she supported the judge’s order. “It will prevent him from committing more crimes if he is in custody,” she said of Rich.

Before he posted the $20,000 bail and was released Wednesday afternoon, bailiffs took Rich to Van Nuys Municipal Court for a preliminary hearing on a felony drug possession charge stemming from what police said was the Oct. 6 theft of a Demerol-filled syringe from a Marina del Rey hospital. Rich has already pleaded not guilty in that case, and the hearing was continued until Nov. 12.

Siegal appeared on Rich’s behalf in San Fernando Municipal Court, where Rich was scheduled to be sentenced for trespassing under a plea agreement stemming from an April 16 shoplifting arrest at a Northridge department store. The sentencing was delayed until Oct. 31 at Siegal’s request.

Siegal and Deputy City Atty. Allan A. Nadir had previously agreed to a sentence of two years probation, a $250 fine and a requirement that Rich attend at least two meetings a week of Narcotics Anonymous for at least a year.

On Wednesday, Judge Nora M. Manella agreed to substitute for the Narcotics Anonymous meetings a requirement that Rich complete a program at a residential drug treatment center--which Siegal said Rich has already begun.