Truck crashes through front of Des Moines gas station’s food mart

DES MOINES, Wash. — The front of a Des Moines gas station is badly damaged after the driver of a truck intentionally crashed into it early Monday.

The 76 gas station and Food Mart is on Pacific Highway South and 259th Street. The store owner told us the burglary was the fourth break-in there.

Workers said that around 5:10 a.m., when the store was closed and empty, the truck crashed through a large front window. A woman who was getting gas at the time witnessed the crash and called 911.

The business owner said surveillance video shows at least two people breaking into the store. The suspects made off with cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Damage is estimated to be tens of thousands of dollars.

The owner told us he feels defeated and frustrated, and believes his business — and other gas stations and convenience stores — are the only ones paying the price for these property crimes because police can’t pursue criminals in such cases because of state law, and he has very little belief that the criminal justice system will hold people accountable.

Video from the scene showed an ATM in the back of the store that was untouched. In past smash-and-grab burglaries across the Puget Sound region, ATMs have been the target.

Des Moines Police are investigating.

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