'Dollar Store Grandpa Robber' indicted

A Connecticut man infamous for wielding firearms while robbing Dollar Stores across the country including a Coeur d’Alene store last Memorial Day faces a robbery charge in Coeur d’Alene federal court.

David D. Hunter, 53, of Enfield, Conn., was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on a charge of robbery, a felony that carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine.

The charges were filed Tuesday in federal court by U.S. Attorney Traci J. Whelan’s office.

Known as the “Dollar Store Grandpa Robber,” Hunter is suspected of committing a dozen robberies at Dollar Tree Stores and Dollar General Stores across the nation. He was arrested earlier this summer at a casino in eastern Indiana after passing through North Idaho and allegedly robbing a store here.

The FBI and police in eastern Indiana took Hunter into custody without incident. Because his charges stem from robberies in many jurisdictions across the U.S., Hunter is being held by the FBI on federal charges.

In the Coeur d’Alene case, police responded around 8:55 p.m. on Memorial Day weekend to the Dollar Tree, on the 400 block of W. Neider Avenue, after employees reported a man brandishing a gun was demanding money by threatening an employee with violence, according to the indictment.

The suspect, a white male — around 50 years old with short white hair and a white mustache — matching Hunter’s description, fled the scene. Police did not say how much money was stolen.

A trial date has not been scheduled, but attorneys estimate a jury trial will take three days, according to information on a criminal cover sheet in court records.

In addition to allegedly robbing the Coeur d’Alene store, Hunter is suspected of robbing stores in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, Wisconsin and Michigan.