Suspect arrested in espresso stand robberies
Published 10:29 pm Wednesday, November 21, 2007
LYNNWOOD — The latest string of espresso stand robberies came to an abrupt end Tuesday night when police arrested a man who they believe is responsible for at least three hold-ups in the last two weeks.
The 22-year-old Snohomish man was arrested Tuesday evening behind a Motel 6 in Lynnwood, according to court documents.
“That’s good,” Hot Shots Espresso &Ice Cream owner Moon Ro said Wednesday after learning of the arrest.
Hot Shots, near Martha Lake, is one of the stands where police believe the man used a silver-and-black handgun to demand cash from a barista, according to a police affidavit filed Wednesday in Everett District Court.
In a string that began on Nov. 11 and continued through Monday, the man apparently held up at least three espresso stands. He may have tried to hold up a fourth but the barista there became suspicious and wouldn’t serve him, the documents said.
There also was a Mill Creek espresso stand robbery Monday where Chelsea Monroe, a barista at A Touch of Italy Espresso in the 4400 block of 132nd Street SE, was held up.
After seeing television footage of surveillance video footage from the Hot Shots robbery, Monroe believes she came face-to-face with the man who was arrested, she said.
Mill Creek police are working with Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives to see if there’s a link, Mill Creek police spokesman Steve Winters said.
Andrew Dallman, A Touch of Italy’s co-owner, said Monroe, 18, arrived at work Wednesday with a big smile on her face.
“We’re definitely elated about this development. It’s fantastic work by the sheriff,” Dallman said.
Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies arrested the man Tuesday on a warrant for supplying liquor to a minor, court documents said.
His girlfriend, who used to work as a barista, told police the man has a problem with OxyContin, a prescription narcotic painkiller often sold as a street drug, the documents said. An anonymous tip to sheriff’s detectives also said the man sold OxyContin, the documents said.
The man was jailed Wednesday for investigation of three counts of first-degree robbery. A judge ordered him held on $250,000 bail, Snohomish County lead deputy prosecuting attorney Chris Dickinson said.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
