UPDATED: Police arrest 2 men accused of robbing the west Olympia Target at gunpoint Sunday night
Two people allegedly robbed the west Olympia Target at gunpoint Sunday night. Police arrested one on suspicion of first-degree robbery early Monday morning but the other eluded police until later that day.
The first person in custody is a 44-year-old man from Seattle who is accused of threatening a Target employee and running off with a bounty of expensive electronics. Police arrested the second suspect by 10 a.m. after a bus driver tipped police.
The robbery occurred around 10 p.m. Sunday, said Lt. Paul Lower. Witnesses told police two men entered the store and held a gun to an employee as they demanded they fill a cart with a variety of electronics including smartwatches and headphones, Lower said.
One suspect reportedly escaped through a back exit with the cart and another ran off through the front, Lower said. However, witnesses told police both entered a U-Haul truck that fled the scene.
No injuries were reported at the Target.
Police pursued the truck into the South Capitol neighborhood of Olympia, where the two suspects abandoned the truck and fled in opposite directions, Lower said. Police secured the abandoned get-away truck which they expect contains all the stolen merchandise, Lower said.
By early Monday morning, a Thurston County Sheriff’s K9 helped police locate one of the suspects hiding by a property on 18th Avenue, Lower said, but they did not immediately find the second suspect.
The second suspect was arrested while on a bus near the Safeway on Cleveland Avenue in Tumwater after a bus driver tipped off law enforcement, Lower said. Police arrested him without incident, he added.
The 44-year-old Seattle man remains in custody in Thurston County jail and was expected to make his preliminary appearance in court Monday afternoon. Lower said he would describe the second suspect at a later time. The Olympian does not name suspects until they appear in court.
This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 10:51 AM.
