MARYSVILLE — Police say a Marysville man stabbed a Walmart employee while trying to shoplift over $500 in merchandise.
Just before 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, the man had a shopping cart full of stuff, worth $526, he was trying to take without paying for from the store at 8713 64th St. NE just off Highway 9, according to a Marysville sergeant’s report.
The Walmart employee was trying to get the man, 48, to leave. Once they got outside the store, the man turned and stabbed the employee in the chest with a pocketknife, witnesses reported.
Carrying a small dog with him, the suspect fled toward Highway 9, according to the police report.
When officers arrived, they reportedly found the employee, 44, hunched over on a bench and holding paper towels to his wound. The man was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
Meanwhile, a police dog and drone searched for the suspect. Investigators quickly found him east of Highway 9, according to police. He’d left the dog, belonging to a friend, behind in the woods.
The Marysville man didn’t comply with officer commands, so the police dog attacked him, the sergeant wrote in his report. An aid crew bandaged him up, as he was covered in blood.
In a police interview, the suspect said nothing happened at the Walmart, according to court papers. He reported he hadn’t been shoplifting, nor was he accused of doing so. He also told police he hadn’t gotten in an argument with an employee.
The man, who had two misdemeanor warrants out for his arrest, reported an employee threatened to call the cops on him for no apparent reason, so he ran away, according to the police report. The warrants were for investigation of driving under the influence and drug possession.
The sergeant reportedly thought the man was lying so he ended the interview.
Police arrested the man for investigation of first-degree robbery and first-degree assault. When officers searched him, they found a multi-tool, according to the police report.
On Friday, the suspect remained in the Snohomish County Jail with bail set at $102,500, jail records show.
The man had over two dozen misdemeanor violations, including several for theft, court records show.
In July, local prosecutors charged the Marysville man with eluding police, a felony. He reportedly told police he ran from them because of warrants out for his arrest. The case remained active Friday.
In 2017, the suspect was sentenced to three months in jail for pepper spraying a man at a Jersey Mike’s in Arlington and then jumping out of a police car after officers arrested him.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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