A man who robbed a store in Gig Harbor at gunpoint on Saturday night was arrested, but several other suspects got away, according to the Gig Harbor Police Department.
Around 9:10 p.m., two men entered a convenience store in the 7100 block of Pioneer Way and robbed the store clerk at gunpoint. They took the till drawer, got into a car with two other people and drove away quickly on Grandview Street.
A GHPD officer in the area saw the car and started following its last known direction. The officer got the robbery information, caught up to the vehicle, and initiated a stop. The car drove away from the stop and almost immediately crashed into a parked car and then a building in the 3000 block of Harborview Drive.
All four people inside the vehicle fled on foot. The trailing officer captured one man, and shortly after, a woman went to a nearby house to seek help for an injured hand. She was also taken into custody.
The other two people remained at large. Additional GHPD personnel were called in to assist in the search. They also received air support from the Washington State Patrol air unit.
The car was confirmed stolen. Officers could see a handgun and the money stolen in the robbery from outside the vehicle, which was impounded for a search warrant.
A K9 was summoned from the Puyallup Police Department but could not locate the other people. Police assumed they ran nearby.
After reviewing the store video, it was determined that the man in custody was the gunman in the robbery. He was uncooperative and refused to confirm his identity.
The juvenile woman indicated that she had nothing to do with the robbery, and police had no direct evidence to connect her to it. She was driven to her Tacoma home and released.
The man was treated at St. Anthony Hospital and then booked into Remann Hall. Police believe he is also a juvenile.
A few hours later, a GHPD Sergeant observed suspects leaving an apartment complex. They drove off quickly, with no lights, on Borgen Boulevard.
Police confirmed that one of the people in the car matched that of the other man involved in the robbery. After a short pursuit, which was a rare exception to the current pursuit laws, the car crashed and the two people fled into the woods toward the Canterwood neighborhood.
Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputies assisted GHPD officers in catching the suspects.
This second car had also been stolen from the apartment complex.
GHPD is working with other jurisdictions to see if the crime is connected to others that may have happened in the county. Police will release more information if that connection is made.
K9 was again summoned, and it was difficult for police to find the suspects in such a large area. Ultimately, law enforcement was unable to locate the people again. GHPD maintained a police presence in the area until it seemed clear that the people had departed the area.