Man pleads not guilty to kidnapping, theft charges

A 33-year-old Kalispell man pleaded innocent to five felony charges related to the March 12 armed robbery of Evergreen Pharmacy Thursday in Flathead District Court.

Shawn Patrick Malarkey, who allegedly took a pharmacist captive at gunpoint after demanding pain medication, was quiet throughout his second court appearance.

His attorney, Courtney Nolan, entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf for felony charges of robbery, kidnapping, two counts of assault with a weapon and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.

District Judge Ted Lympus scheduled Malarkey’s trial for Aug. 8.

Malarkey is currently being held in the Flathead Detention Center with bail set at $100,000.

He was arrested March 13 at the Whitefish train depot, where he allegedly was found asleep on a bench with five medicine bottles containing Oxycontin in the pockets of his pants.

A day earlier, he allegedly brandished a handgun at Evergreen Pharmacy, pointed it at pharmacist George Yeats and demanded all of the pharmacy’s Oxycontin.

When he pointed the gun at a woman working in the pharmacy and demanded her car keys, Yeats offered his keys and truck instead, according to court documents.

Malarkey allegedly threatened to “put a bullet in his head” and instructed him to drive onto Whitefish Stage Road where he eventually released Yeats at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Yeats’ truck later was found abandoned near the intersection of Tronstad Drive and Tronstad Road.

Malarkey also pleaded innocent Thursday to an unrelated felony theft charge filed in 2010 after he allegedly stole his father’s wheelchair.

If convicted on all charges, Malarkey faces the possibility of up to 105 years in Montana State Prison.

Robbery is punishable by up to 40 years in prison, assault with a weapon can result in up to 20 years, and kidnapping by up to 10 years. Criminal possession of dangerous drugs carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Felony theft is punishable by up to 10 years.