Man arrested for armed robbery at Capital Mall, Olympia police say

A 38-year-old man last week was arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery while armed with a deadly weapon, according to Olympia police.

About 5:20 p.m. Friday, police were dispatched to the JC Penney store at Capital Mall in west Olympia, Lt. Paul Lower said Tuesday.

Once police arrived, they detained the suspect and learned he had grabbed multiple articles of clothing from the suits section of the store.

He then entered a dressing room and allegedly tore the tags off the clothing before he carried all the merchandise past the point of sale and exited the business, Lower said.

At that point, a loss prevention officer attempted to stop the man, but the suspect turned toward that employee and lifted his shirt, exposing a handgun tucked into his waistline, according to Lower.

The hangun was later identifed as a Sig Sauer model, he said.

The loss prevention employee then re-entered the store, and the suspect followed, allegedly yelling profanities at that person, Lower said.

Then police arrived and arrested the man without incident, he said.