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2 suspected shoplifters arrested after threatening Nordstrom employee with gun

Police sirens in operation. Blue and red flash lights of emergency car in action. Police crew with the siren lights on emergency alert. Stock photo of police lights. (vmargineanu / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — A man and woman suspected of shoplifting at a Nordstrom were arrested on Saturday after threatening an employee with a gun, police said.

Lynnwood police were called around 7 p.m., after the suspects punched a female employee in the face and head when she attempted to stop them from stealing merchandise from the store at Alderwood Mall.

The man then threatened the employee, pointing a handgun directly at her head, before the pair fled the store on foot.

Officers caught up with the suspects at a nearby Home Depot, where they found the woman hiding behind the store.

In an attempt to get away, the man jumped onto a moving vehicle traveling on 184th Street Southwest. But he was thrown onto the roadway when the startled driver hit her brakes.

Both suspects were arrested. Police also found a handgun inside a backpack that the pair ditched along the way.

The male suspect was transported to the hospital to treat injuries he sustained in the fall from the vehicle. From there, he’ll go to the Snohomish County Jail.

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