Laundry soap thwarts Everett robbery suspect
Published 10:37 pm Thursday, April 9, 2009
EVERETT — It took a jug of laundry detergent to stop an Everett purse snatcher.
After grabbing a handicapped woman’s handbag in a Safeway parking lot last month, a bystander smacked the would-be robber over the head with a plastic bottle of liquid laundry soap.
Undeterred, the suspect, 31, of Everett, tried to make a clean getaway. Another bystander put a wrinkle in those plans.
The suspect tried to climb into his car to drive off but a man wrestled with him until police arrived, according to a search warrant filed Tuesday in Everett District Court.
As police began to investigate, more dirt came out.
It turns out the man may be good for at least three similar robberies and thefts in Everett and Lynnwood, the warrant said. Court records show the man has a criminal history and the incident at Safeway wasn’t the first time police caught him in hot water.
He’s linked to a purse snatching at the Everett Mall on March 24, an Edmonds Safeway on June 22 and a July 5 burglary in Bothell, records show.
The most recent mess began around 6:30 p.m. on March 26 when a witness called 911 to let police know someone had tried to mug a woman in the parking lot of the Safeway in the 7600 block of Evergreen Way, the document said. The suspect knocked the 56-year-old woman down as he tried to snare her clutch.
“She held on with both hands and screamed as she was dragged 20 feet until suspect was hit” with the soap, police wrote in the search warrant.
During the investigation at the Safeway, the suspect’s wife pulled up looking for her husband. She’s also under investigation although no arrests have been made. The wife told detectives both she and her husband are recovering drug addicts.
For now, someone else is doing her husband’s laundry.
He’s behind bars at the Snohomish County Jail being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. He faces first-degree theft and residential burglary charges.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
