Novelist James Fogle, author of Drugstore Cowboy, which later became a movie starring Matt Dillon, was arrested this week for robbing a pharmacy near Seattle. He surrendered to police with two trash cans full of drugs in his hands.

The 73-year-old Fogle has done time for robbing pharmacies before, and was locked up when the movie based on his book was released in 1989. The pharmacy that he and a convicted sex offender tried to rob this week was a half mile from the Redmond, Washington police headquarters. Fogle was wearing a pink bandana and armed with a bb gun. Police spokesman Jim Bove told the New York Times that, at first, "we didn't think it was anybody special," but now are trying to connect him to a series of other robberies in Washington and Oregon that were featured on America's Most Wanted.

In 2004, Fogle was found passed out on the floor of a pharmacy near an empty drug cabinet and served time in prison. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a detective who testified in the case told the court, "He had gotten into the pharmacy and made a huge haul of drugs and was on the way out when he fell asleep. His intent was to steal enough to buy a car and get a place to stay."

Fogle has been convicted of 14 felonies since 1954. Oh, and there's a Drugstore Cowboy sequel "in production" and slated for a 2011 release. Great promo!

[Image via]