Everett man accused of robbery in violent $36 diaper theft

Published 1:30 am Saturday, October 12, 2019

LYNNWOOD — A heist of $36.43 in diapers ended with one man arrested for investigation of robbery this week in Lynnwood.

Security cameras showed the Everett man, 29, walk toward the exit of a QFC grocery store carrying a pack of Pampers around 4:10 p.m., according to police reports filed in court Thursday.

An employee asked if he could help to ring the man up, but the man kept walking, the reports say. The worker tried to grab the diapers. The man escaped with the merchandise, then returned while the worker turned his attention to a woman, who also had a pack of Pampers. She threw a package to the man and he caught it, according to the reports. The employee knocked another pack out of her hands. The male shoplifter ran up to the employee from behind and punched him in the face, according to police.

He later justified it by saying that he didn’t like the man hitting “his girl,” an officer wrote. After a scuffle, the thieves fled outside with the loot to a McDonald’s in the 17500 block of Highway 99, the report says.

Police arrived to find three people huddled at a nearby bus stop, with packs of diapers around them. The woman was stuffing the turquoise hoodie she’d been wearing into a bag, according to the reports.

The third person also had a package of Pampers, but apparently those diapers did not come from QFC. He was let go.

The woman was cited for third-degree theft.

Officers arrested the alleged assailant for investigation of first-degree robbery. Everett District Court Judge Anthony Howard set bail at $5,000, and the man remained in jail Friday.

It is not uncommon for a shoplifting misdemeanor that routinely ends in a fine to escalate into a felony with serious jail time, regardless of the value of what’s stolen. A package of diapers would be on the low end of the scale, however.

Court records show the man has a long history of misdemeanors — theft, violating no-contact orders, domestic violence and drug-related crimes — but he has never been convicted of a felony in the state.

All of the stolen goods were recovered.

Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.