Date/Time: 8/4/2011, 2332 Hours
Location: Olympia Avenue and Marine View Drive, Olympia
Incident: Hi, My Name Is. . .
A man introduced himself and then used the threat of a gun, which was more than likely just his finger, to rob a group of five young travelers who were camped out near the East Bay shore of Puget Sound.
According to police reports, the 23-year-old Olympia man walked up to the camp demanding to know who had been, “talking (crap) to (his) dad,” earlier in the evening. When he did not receive what he felt was an adequate response to his question, the man grabbed one of the victims’ skateboard and threw it down the hill and into the bay. The assailant then put his hand in his waistband as though he were holding a gun and ordered all of the travelers, ages 17 to 21, to get down on their hands and knees and look at the ground, and to throw any valuables out in front of them. The man reportedly stated that, “You better listen, or I will pistol whip you.”
After collecting three bandanas and an EBT card that the group had handed over, the man became agitated over the paltry haul. He told one of the men in the group to “Wipe that smirk off your face,” before picking up a nearby can of beer and pouring it over the mans head and then punching him in the side of the face.
Still upset over his lack of bounty the man began demanding that the group empty their bags and backpacks, when a male member of the group who was returning from a walk interrupted the robbery in process. The robber quickly turned his attention to the newcomer, ordering him to get on his knees and empty his pockets. After making a move as if to comply to the demand, the newest victim quickly turned and ran toward the East Bay Shell gas station in order to call the police. The would-be robber then allegedly dropped the stolen EBT card and gave chase yelling, “Stop or I will shoot you in the back of the head,” but could not catch his would-be victim and instead peeled off and continued running toward downtown.
Based on a physical description and last known location/direction of travel, responding police units were able to locate the suspect in the alley behind Jezebel’s. Two of the victims of the robbery were brought over separately in order to do an on-site identification of the suspect and both positively identified the man as their assailant. One of the victims even provided police with the man’s name, explaining that when the suspect first walked up on their camp he had stated, “I’m (suspect’s name). I run this town. (Suspect’s name). Don’t you forget it!”
After the suspect was booked at the OPD main station on five counts of Second Degree Robbery, another disturbance call was reported back at the location of the original robbery. When OPD officers responded they found an older adult male engaged in a verbal altercation with the group of five young travelers. When separated by police, the group of victims explained that they had had an encounter with the man earlier in the evening when he and a female companion had stopped near their camp in order to smoke weed. According to the group of victims, the two became increasingly loud and, because the group was concerned about attracting unwanted law enforcement attention to their camp, they has asked them to move along. The request made the man considerably angry but he did gradually leave the area. The group surmised that the man must have been the dad that they had been accused of “talking (crap)” to by their earlier assailant.
According to the group, the man had threatened to kick them in the teeth so hard that they would end up a mile down the bay if they talked to the police again, and that he had associates who would “take care of them before sunrise,” since they had already talked to the cops. The man disputed the claims stating that he had merely heard that his son had been arrested and he had come down to see what had happened. When the police asked how he knew where to come look he stated that he just started walking and people were pointing him in the direction to go.
The man was booked into jail on five counts of Intimidating a Witness.
No gun or stolen items (three bandanas) were recovered.