Suspect in custody in husky hat robbery (video)

EVERETT -- Police believe they have caught the dog hat bandit.

An Everett man, 21, surrendered to detectives Monday after he learned he was under investigation for the robbery of a Broadway smoke shop last month. Police recently searched his apartment.

The suspect had been identified by a viewer of "Washington's Most Wanted" on KCPQ-TV, Channel 13. Interviews with other people familiar with the suspect provided Everett detectives with the information they needed to establish probable cause to arrest him.

The man met detectives at the Snohomish County Jail with his attorney Monday night, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said. He was arrested without incident and was booked for investigation of first-degree robbery.

On the morning of Jan. 11, a man wearing a ski cap that looked like a husky dog, used parts of the hat to cover his lower face as he walked into the smoke shop in the 1000 block of North Broadway.

The man first asked the store owner for a pack of "spicy," a street name for chemical compounds that mimic marijuana, Goetz said. The man then asked for an entire box of "spicy" before brandishing a knife and demanding money.

The store owner told the suspect that there wasn't any money in the cash register.

That's when the suspect demanded cigarettes, according to a police report.

The owner handed the man a pack of Camel cigarettes valued at $8, police said.

He then ran from the store with the store owner chasing him with a golf club, police said.

Surveillance footage shows that the suspect was wearing a white and gray colored hat that was shaped like the head of a husky complete with eyes, ears and a snout.

Besides the distinctive hat, the suspect appeared to have a large nose, dark hair and thick, dark eyebrows, according to police reports.

People who knew the suspect told police that he wore a hat matching the one seen on the surveillance video and recognized him from his facial features. They also said he was known to use the "spicy" product.

Police tracked the man to a clean-and-sober house where he had been living recently, according to court papers.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.