Olympia police arrest man accused of robbing two convenience stores March 11

Martín Bilbao
·2 min read
An image of items Olympia police recovered from a Lakewood man accused of robbing two convenience stores and burglarizing a coffee stand on March 11. The image includes a firearm and ammunition, as well as baggies of meth and fentanyl poweder and pills.

Olympia police arrested one of two people accused of robbing two convenience stores at gunpoint on March 11.

Detectives identified a 29-year-old Lakewood man as one of the suspects and located him at a probation office in Lakewood on Tuesday, Police Lt. Paul Lower told The Olympian. The second suspect remains at large, he added.

Officers booked the Lakewood man into the Thurston County jail on suspicion of two counts of first-degree robbery, one count of second-degree burglary, and one count of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Police announced the arrest on Twitter Wednesday morning. The tweet includes an image of several items that detectives recovered from the Lakewood man: a firearm and ammunition as well as baggies of meth plus fentanyl powder and pills.

Lower said detectives found the items in the man’s bag after executing a search warrant. The tweet incorrectly states the man is a suspect in three armed robberies rather than two, he added.

The first robbery allegedly occurred at about 5:20 a.m. on March 11 at a convenience store on the 1700 block of Evergreen Park Drive Southwest, Lower previously said.

A store employee reportedly witnessed the man behind the counter, trying to get into the cash register, Lower said. When he told him to leave, a woman allegedly pointed a gun at him and ordered him to get down on the floor.

The two suspects took money and fled in a white sedan, leaving a pick-up truck behind, Lower said. That truck was reported stolen in Federal Way, he added.

Police responded to the convenience store but were soon alerted to another robbery at about 5:40 a.m. on the 2000 block of Harrison Avenue Northwest.

Lower said it appeared the same man and woman entered another store and demanded money from an employee at gunpoint. They allegedly took store items and the employee’s phone.

The additional burglary allegation stems from a separate incident that also occurred that morning.

Police responded to a drive-up coffee stand on the 1100 block of Plum Street Southeast at about 8 a.m. The owner reportedly found the stand ransacked with its windows open and computer items missing, Lower said.

After reviewing surveillance footage, Lower said detectives determined the same man and woman from the two robberies committed the burglary.

Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call Olympia police at 360-753-8300.