Police arrest man accused of robbing Lacey massage parlor, attempting to rob Olympia parlor
Olympia and Lacey police arrested a 20-year-old Thurston County resident on Wednesday for allegedly robbing one massage parlor and attempting to rob another, both at gunpoint.
The two agencies worked together to arrest the suspect and book him into the Thurston County jail on suspicion of first-degree robbery and first-degree assault, according to Lacey Police Department Facebook post and the jail log.
The suspect, identified as Immanuel Vadan Watts Ifekam, attended his preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court for the two cases on Thursday. Prosecutors allege in court records that he tried to rob an Olympia massage parlor at 121 Legion Way SW on Monday and a Lacey massage parlor at 4802 Pacific Ave. SE on March 22.
In the Olympia case, Judge Allyson Zipp found probable cause for first-degree attempted kidnapping, first-degree attempted robbery and first-degree assault, all while armed with a firearm. For the Lacey case, Zipp found probable cause for first-degree robbery while armed with a firearm.
In both cases, Zipp allowed Ifekam to be released with conditions, including that he be restricted to his parent’s home except when working, going to school, attending medical appointments or appearing in court.
Zipp also barred Ifekam from contacting the alleged victims in both cases and any massage parlors in general. Lastly, she ordered him to check in with Pretrial Services as well as not to violate the law, leave the state or possess dangerous weapons or firearms.
Court records show Ifekam resides near the Regional Athletic Complex and has no known criminal convictions. He’s due back in court for an arraignment hearing on April 29.
What happened at the massage parlors?
Probable cause statements describe the investigations into the two alleged robberies from the perspective of law enforcement.
Officers responded to the Lacey massage parlor at 8:42 p.m. March 22. A worker at the parlor had run to a nearby restaurant to report the robbery.
Officers contacted another worker inside the parlor and spoke to them through a translation service. The worker told police a man without an appointment walked in, pulled out a handgun and pointed the gun at her head.
The man allegedly demanded money, so the worker grabbed $800 in cash from her coat and handed it to him. He then walked out the front door.
The woman was not physically injured during the encounter.
Surveillance footage from the business corroborated the workers’ version of events and showed the suspect get out of a clean, dark grey or silver Volvo sedan. At the time, the suspect wore a black hoodie, black pants and black shoes.
On March 24, a Lacey police officer observed Ifekam in Long Lake Park with a gray Volvo and noted he had similar facial features as the person seen in surveillance footage.
Officers responded to the Olympia massage parlor at about 8:45 p.m. April 14 after a witness reported women screaming from the parlor and a man with a gun.
Officers contacted the workers and spoke to them with the help of a translation service. One worker told an officer the man entered the business and pointed a gun at her after she asked to see his identification card.
The man pushed her towards the back of the business but he eventually passed her and continued walking through. The worker then ran out the front door.
Another worker told the officer she saw the man pointing a gun at her coworker, so she screamed and ran out the back door of the business and hid behind a garbage can.
She said she believed the man got startled by their screaming and fled east toward Capitol Way South.
Officers reviewed video surveillance of the incident and found it corroborated the worker’s version of events. The footage reportedly showed a man wearing dark gray pants, a black hooded sweatshirt with a silver zipper.
The officer believed he could easily identify Ifekam in the footage based on his facial features and reports from the Lacey investigation.
The two workers were later asked to review a photo line-up of potential suspects. Both of them noted Ifekam appeared similar to the man who entered the business, but they declined to positively identify him as the suspect because they could not see his hair during the incident.
Officers arrest suspect in Olympia
On Wednesday, Lacey and Olympia police arrested Ifekam in west Olympia after following him from his home near Lacey, according to the statement.
At the time, Ifekam was driving a silver Volvo and wore a black hooded sweatshirt with a silver zipper. The statement says he was compliant and detained without incident.
A Lacey detective questioned Ifekam about both incidents. Ifekam allegedly confirmed he went to the massage parlor in Olympia, but said he left after being refused service for being too young. He denied possessing a firearm and assaulting the women.
Ifekam told police he had two handguns in his car. Using a search warrant, police recovered the handguns from the vehicle.
Later that day, officers served a search warrant at Ifekam’s home. Officers entered his bedroom and recovered another handgun inside a bedside table as well as various items of clothing that seemed to match what was worn in surveillance footage.
On Thursday, the Lacey Police Department shared an image on Facebook of some of the items that were recovered from searching Ifekam’s vehicle.
The image shows a dark balaclava and two handguns. The post says officers also recovered a sweatshirt that he was seen wearing in video of the Lacey incident.
