A 28-year-old Lakewood man was arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery and could face additional charges after he pepper-sprayed a man at a gas station to steal his car, according to Tumwater police.
About 11:15 p.m. Monday, police were dispatched to the Tumwater Fred Meyer gas station on Trosper Road. Police learned the 65-year-old man was filling his car with gas when the man approached him from behind, Lt. Jen Kolb said Tuesday.
The man turned around and was pepper-sprayed by the suspect. The victim then tried to block the man from getting into the driver's seat, but the suspect pulled out a folding knife, Kolb said. Two other people also tried to intervene, but were unsuccessful, she said.
However, the car was equipped with a tracking device, which later showed it was in downtown Olympia in the area of Fourth Avenue and Simmons Street.
According to Kolb, Olympia police deployed spike strips on Fourth Avenue, but the man continued to drive down Fourth Avenue until he came to Ralph's Thriftway on the city's east side. That's where the suspect ditched the car and fled. He was later found in a crawl space underneath a residence in the 1900 block of State Avenue.
Kolb said the man refused to come out, so police used "less lethal munitions" — pepper balls, for example, instead of bullets — to coax the man from his hiding spot. He eventually was taken into custody, she said.
In addition to first-degree robbery, police also plan to refer first-degree theft charges for the Thurston County Prosecutor's Office to consider, Kolb said.
