WESTERN WASHINGTON — Many throughout the Puget Sound region are growing frustrated over the rising rate of violent attacks happening at convenience stores.
In the early hours of Friday night, police reported at least five cases: three in Pierce County and two in South King County.
Puyallup police say this all started after midnight when a woman in her 50s had her car stolen at gunpoint at the 7-Eleven off South Meridian. Shortly after the car was stolen, other agencies were told about a series of robberies and a burglary in which a car stolen from the 7-Eleven was possibly involved. During this spree, two 7-Elevens, one off of North Meridian and the other off East Stewart Street, and the Hometown Studios were robbed.
Security video from the 7-Eleven off East Stewart Street shows a group of armed people holding the cashier at gunpoint. The cashier complies and gives them what they want before calling the police. All three cases are under investigation by the Puyallup Police Department’s Investigative Services Unit.
Not far from one of the 7-Elevens robbed at gunpoint, the Valley Market on Valley Avenue was burglarized by a group of people. Security video shows the front door being smashed, then a group of armed people running inside. In the video, one of the suspects grabs all of the cash out of the register and another grabs several boxes of shoes belonging to the owner. The owner also tells KIRO 7 his family has run the store for over 40 years and that Friday morning’s burglary was a first for them, which has many regulars heartbroken.
“That somebody would do this to him, that’s just appalling to me,” regular Teri Sparling said.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department says they believe that some of the cases could be connected.
“We believe the one between Edgewood and the Valley Avenue Market are two cases that are related,” Sgt. Darren Moss Jr. with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said.
Moss said the number of burglaries and armed robberies continues to skyrocket in Western Washington.
“And at the end of the year (2022), I believe we were still up somewhere between 70% and 90% higher than our average for an entire year for armed robberies. Just in unincorporated Pierce County,” Moss said.
A spokesperson with the King County Sheriff’s Office shared this information about the two robberies they responded to:
In the early hours of Friday, April, KCSO deputies responded to two separate gas station robberies in King County.
The first incident occurred just after 2:10 am at the Arco Gas Station (3910 S 320th St). Multiple suspects were involved, and all were reported to be armed. They had fled the scene prior to deputies arriving.
The second incident occurred just before 3:40 am at the Chevron in Maple Valley (27201 216th Ave SE). During the incident, a round was fired but nobody was injured. Multiple suspects were reported as involved and had left prior to the deputy’s arrival.
At this time, we cannot confirm if these incidents are related to each other or to any other recent incidents. Both are open active investigations.
KIRO 7 reported earlier in the week on a string of armed robberies at several 7-Elevens in South King County. Those cases are still under investigation.
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