TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma police are seeking the public's help in identifying two serial armed robbery suspects.
The suspects are accused of robbing six different smoke shops and an attempt to rob one citizen at an ATM.
Clerks and shop owners describe a similar scenario: two robbers, one armed with a short-barreled rifle, walking into a smoke shop demanding products and money. Witnesses told KING 5 the robbers appeared "very young."
The suspects are accused of robberies at the following seven locations:
- Feb. 14, 1:28 p.m. – 9300 block of South Steele Street
- Feb. 16, 5:42 p.m. – 800 72nd Street East (PCSO)
- Feb. 18, 12:11 p.m. – 8800 block of Pacific Avenue
- Feb. 18, 12:51 p.m. – 1100 block of 112th Street South (PCSO)
- Feb. 20, 10:44 a.m. – 3600 block of 6th Avenue
- Feb. 20, 1:16 p.m. – 4700 block of South Oakes Street
- Feb. 20, 1:41 p.m. – 5000 block of South 56th Street
Since the first robbery, police say the violence has only escalated in these crimes.
“At one of the establishments, the employee sustained serious injuries, and was transported to the hospital with a head injury,” said Tacoma Police Department Public Information Officer Wendy Haddow. “And in the other one, the employee said he didn’t need medical aid, but again, this is an uptick in violence.”
Haddow says there’s been a rise in young people committing violent crimes in Tacoma.
“We’re seeing youth, armed youth, perpetrating violent crimes against businesses, adults, and other youth,” Haddow said.
According to a report by the City of Tacoma, people under the age of 30 die from violent assaults at the same rate as deaths from car crashes and at a higher rate than Pierce County overall.
The report also says the largest proportion of the violent crime victims reported to police are 30 and under.
The city says it’s working with service providers to give young people vital resources to help them avoid a cycle of violence.
“We can help with a wide variety of things,” said Vicky McLaurin, Interim Assistant Director for Neighborhood and Community Services. “We can help with food, we can help with jobs, and anything to help reduce those barriers that families and our youth are going through so that we can actually impact a positive change.”
Meanwhile, Haddow is alerting the community to help find these robbers before the violence escalates.
“We hate to see youths committing crimes, but you add a firearm into that to a mind that’s not fully developed, and you do not know what could happen,” she said.
Anyone with any information on the robberies is encouraged to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
This comes after a smoke shop in Seattle was the subject of an attempted armed robbery on Monday. A suspect exchanged gunfire with the co-owner of King Smoke Shop in the Ballard neighborhood, with both men being hit. The suspect died at the scene and the co-owner is in satisfactory condition at the hospital.