LYNNWOOD — A 60-year-old Mukilteo woman turned the tables on a would-be robber Tuesday at the Alderwood mall.
The Everett man, 18, allegedly confronted her at her car in the parking lot, with one hand in his hooded sweatshirt. He reportedly told her he had a gun and demanded her purse and money.
The woman stepped out of her car, pushed him and told him she was not going to put up with his antics and she was going to kick his behind — or words to that effect, according to a Lynnwood police report.
When she got out of her car, she noticed a second young man nearby.
She told them that she was a retired police officer and they were not getting away with robbing her. She told police she tried to kick her assailants in the groin and that she knew how to fight.
As she yelled, the men took off.
The woman got back into her car and reported her situation to OnStar Corp., which provides hands-free communication to 911 dispatchers. She followed the men, kept honking her horn and put on her emergency flashers. She drove through grass and bushes on the mall property.
The suspects passed a U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office. The woman told the Marines standing outside that she was chasing two people who tried to rob her and she pointed in their direction.
They chased down the Everett man and held him on the ground until police arrived.
Police found an aluminum baseball bat concealed in the suspect’s pant leg.
The second suspect was still at large Wednesday.
“They bit off more than they could chew,” Lynnwood police Sgt. Sean Doty said of the woman who chased the suspects.
“Typically that’s not the safest course of action, but what she did worked,” he said.
The man who was arrested was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of attempted robbery. He stands 5 foot 3 inches and weighs 100 pounds, according to the police report.
The man allegedly told police that he merely was asking the woman for a ride to Everett when she accused him of robbing her.
He also said she hit him with her car and that he didn’t know the name of the man who was with him when he approached the car.
As for the baseball bat hidden in his pants, the suspect reportedly told police that he carries it around “just in case.”
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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