MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — A Camano Island man is suspected in a series of armed robberies that span two counties.
Michael Moore is believed to be involved in at least three separate robberies. Two happened on Nov. 4 in Shoreline and Seattle. A week later Moore allegedly held up a father and son outside a mosque in Mountlake Terrace. He is accused of firing a shot in the air during that hold-up.
He was arrested in December and remains locked up in the King County Jail. He has declined to speak with investigators. Moore, 29, is charged with robbery for the Shoreline heist.
Snohomish County prosecutors this week charged him with first-degree robbery with a firearm for the incident in Mountlake Terrace.
Prosecutors allege that Moore used the same tactics in all the robberies. He asked an innocuous question, pulled a gun and then demanded the victims’ belongings.
Two other men are suspected of being involved in the robberies, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson wrote.
The Shoreline victim told police he’d gotten off a bus and was walking home when he noticed a car drive by twice. Two men approached him as he was nearing his apartment and said something he didn’t understand. Moore allegedly pulled a gun from his waistband and demanded the man’s bag, phone and computer. The second suspect, Danyl Willis, of Mountlake Terrace, allegedly robbed the man of his wallet. The men ordered the victim to empty his pockets and sit on the ground.
The victim told police he feared the suspects were going to shoot him. They drove off in the car that he had seen circle him earlier.
A few hours later, Moore and Willis robbed a man near Northgate Mall, according to court papers.
They are accused of using the victims’ credit cards at several locations, including a Safeway in Edmonds. Video surveillance showed the men buying alcohol. The cards also were used at the Walmart in Lynnwood, Matheson wrote.
A week later, a father and son were robbed outside the mosque they attend in Mountlake Terrace. The men told police Moore approached them and asked for a cigarette. When they told him that they don’t smoke, he allegedly pulled a gun and pointed it at the older man. He demanded that they both drop their wallets and cell phones on the ground, court papers said.
Willis allegedly was hanging back about 10 feet at the time of the robbery.
Moore grabbed the wallets and phones and shot his gun into the air.
Police later found a .45-caliber shell in the area.
One of the victim’s credit cards was used about an hour after the robbery. The suspects stopped at a 7-Eleven, Walmart and Fred Meyer. Both victims identified the robber from surveillance videos taken at the stores, Matheson wrote.
Willis pleaded guilty to the Shoreline robbery and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Moore is scheduled to go to trial next month in King County.
He’s expected to be arraigned in Snohomish County this month. He was last in prison in 2011 after serving about six years for multiple property crimes in Skagit County. His extensive criminal history could mean a long stretch in prison if he’s convicted of the robberies in Shoreline and Mountlake Terrace.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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