Full Notification

A 30-year old Olga man and 51-year old Federal Way man were arrested and charged with first degree robbery for their involvement in the gas station robbery that occurred the morning of January 21st at 13th and Commercial Avenue. At approximately 9:30 that morning, APD Officers responded to a report of an armed robbery. The reporting party advised the 911 dispatcher that a tall/thin male subject wearing a black mask and dark colored clothing displayed a handgun and demanded the money from the cash register. The suspect then fled the store with an undetermined amount of cash and got into a maroon pickup truck and left the area southbound. A partial license plate number was provided and based on that information and the vehicle description, officers determined that the pickup was stolen from the marina on T Avenue approximately 30 minutes prior.

Officers located the pickup approximately three blocks from the scene of the robbery, unoccupied. The vehicle was seized as evidence. Officers set up containment and requested the assistance from Mount Vernon Police Department’s tracking K-9 Unit. Officers searched the area with assistance from the K-9 Unit. APD Officers located the stolen pickup used in the robbery within minutes of the 911 call but were unsuccessful in locating the suspect at that time.

APD Detectives took the case and investigative work including collection of surveillance from the crime scenes, victim and witness interviews, and serving search warrants continued for several days. A key piece of evidence was surveillance from a Burlington PD case where a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle was captured.

On January 30th, both suspects were booked in the Skagit County Jail on an investigative hold and soon thereafter a search warrant was granted for the Olga man’s residence where key evidentiary items were collected.

Solving this case was a great example of multi-jurisdictional cooperation. The Anacortes Police Department would like to thank the Mount Vernon, Burlington, and Swinomish Tribal Police Departments for their assistance as well as the Kent and Auburn Police Departments for sharing crucial evidence pertaining to this case. We would also like to thank the people of Anacortes and surrounding areas for their assistance during the investigative process.

Reference APD case #20-A00477.