‘There’s no winning’: Federal Way gas station fed up after being robbed for 5th time in 2023

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — A Federal Way gas station owner says he is fed up after his store was robbed for the fifth time this year.

“It’s getting too bad. It’s not, this is not what we’re expecting. You know, you open a business to make money,” said Mousa Dahabreh.

Dahabreh has owned the Mobil gas station off Military Road since 2007.

He told KIRO 7 he’s experienced robberies in the past, but it’s gotten a lot worse over the years.

“Not safe, employees are scared. I’m scared,” he said.

His store has experienced five armed robberies this year in January, February, September, October, and now Thursday, November 16th.

It happened around 1:30 a.m. while one of his workers was smoking outside. That’s when surveillance video shows two stolen cars pull up with at least 6 people. When they ran inside, one of them pointed a gun at the cashier.

“They came in here and there were 10 boxes of elf bar bars, about $200 each. So, they took about $2000 worth of Elf bar,” Dahabreh explained.

He said they also took the entire cash register with them.

After multiple incidents in the past, Dahabreh said he keeps a tracking device in the register. Police ended up finding it in Auburn, but it was empty with no cash.

Dahabreh doesn’t know what else he can do at this point.

“You keep it open, you get robbed. You keep it closed, they break in. You’re losing it this way if you’re doing it that way, you’re gonna lose. So there’s no winning for us, for nobody,” he said.

He says it’s a frustrating cycle of events, but his top priority is keeping his employees safe at night and during the early morning hours.

“Keep the door locked and then open it if they feel safe to somebody. If they have a mask, don’t open,” he said.

Federal Way police says it’s best to comply if you’re ever in that situation.

“I would comply with the person just so there’s no injuries, give them what they want, and they can just call the police as soon as you can,” said Commander Kyle Buchanan with Federal Way Police.

Police did find one of the two stolen cars dumped in Renton.

They believe this same group targeted other businesses throughout King County the same night.

“There were some other robberies outside of our jurisdiction and we have reason to believe that these same people who did the robbery in Federal Way also did some robberies outside of the city,” Buchanan explained.

He said over the last couple of years, they’ve seen a rise in these types of crimes.

“We have seen an increase in the violent crimes where a stolen vehicle was involved,” Buchanan added. “So, you know last night, our robbery was 2 stolen vehicles involved and that has kind of become a common theme in the last couple of years.”

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