Knife-wielding ‘bicycle bandit’ arrested after chase. Police say he held up 4 Tri-Cities stores
A man tied to four armed robberies is in jail after a short chase in Kennewick on Monday.
Kennewick police working with the U.S. Marshals Task Force found Andrew Badziong on the 5100 block of West Clearwater Avenue around 2 p.m.
He tried to run from officers, but was caught.
He was taken to the Benton County jail on a hold for four counts of first-degree robbery.
The arrest happened close to a Clearwater apartment that was the focus of a standoff earlier this month.
Badziong is tied to a series of armed robberies starting on Oct. 30 when he allegedly walked into the Pacific Food Mart on Clearwater and threatened the clerk with a knife. He rode away on a bicycle and dumped it nearby.
Police tried to track him using a police dog but came up empty.
He showed back up on Dec. 15, when he went into the same store just before 10 a.m. He waited until the other customers left and then threatened the clerk with a knife. He again rode away on a bike.
Then on Dec. 28, he robbed a Circle K on the 5300 block of Clearwater Avenue at 6 a.m. and stuck the Human Bean coffee stand at 4305 Clearwater Ave.
Police didn’t say whether he used a knife in those crimes.
Kennewick police have been dealing with an increase in robberies in recent months. The Pacific Food Mart was been hit four times in the past year, and three of those holdups were in the last two months.
