Olympia police arrest man accused of attempted robbery Tuesday near gas station
Olympia police arrested a 24-year-old man Tuesday who is accused of stabbing and attempting to rob another man near a downtown gas station.
Police booked the man into Thurston County jail on suspicion of first-degree attempted robbery on Tuesday. Prosecutors filed a probable cause statement in Thurston County Superior Court the next day that described the investigation from the perspective of law enforcement.
The incident occurred before 5 p.m. at the station at the intersection of Plum Street and Union Avenue Southeast, according to the statement. An officer responded to the scene after an employee at a nearby business reported a stabbing.
The statement says the officer found the suspect emptying his pockets in some bushes and detained him. The officer also detained the alleged victim who was found in the gas station bathroom.
A witness told the officer that they observed the suspect arguing with the alleged victim and attempting to take his backpack. They allegedly saw the suspect stab the victim’s forearm with a cylindrical object.
The officer then contacted the alleged victim who showed him his wounds and corroborated the witnesses’ account, according to the statement. He reportedly said the suspect asked him to see the contents of his backpack and proceeded to follow him despite being told to get away.
The officer located the cylindrical object in the bushes where the suspect was found. The statement describes it as a silver, metal toilet paper holder, about 1-inch in diameter, with one end broken and sharp.
The suspect told police he did not know the alleged victim but believed they had taken $500 from him, according to the statement. When questioned further, the suspect allegedly contradicted his story and said he simply wanted to fight.
Surveillance footage from a nearby business did not capture the incident, but the statement says it showed the suspect following the alleged victim with the toilet paper rod in his right hand.
Court records indicate the suspect was previously charged with property damage in a 2018 Olympia Municipal Court case and third-degree malicious mischief, domestic violence, in a 2021 Mason County Superior Court case.
