She jumped in his van and demanded he pay for sex, Tacoma police say. He freaked out and drove off

The man was just trying to put gas in his van Tuesday night.

Then a woman jumped into his passenger seat, demanding he pay her for sex.

He said no.

Then there was a chase, a hammer and two arrests.

The 30-year-old transient woman and her 49-year-old male companion from Tacoma were arraigned Thursday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court on charges of attempted first-degree robbery. Her bail was set at $10,000, while his was set at $25,000.

According to charging documents and Tacoma police:

A man was fueling up his van at a gas station in the 8800 block of Pacific Avenue in Tacoma’s South End late Tuesday. The woman got into the passenger seat and demanded sex.

The victim said no and told her to get out. She demanded money because the man wasted her time.

The 49-year-old was in his car nearby, watching. He got out, walked over to the van and demanded the woman get the money and leave the van.

The victim panicked and drove off with the woman still inside the van. The man chased after him in his car. The victim couldn’t pull away.

Then the woman snatched the keys from the van’s ignition. It coasted to a halt in the middle of Pacific Avenue near 104th Street East.

The woman’s companion came up to the van and handed her a hammer. She said she would break the van unless the driver paid her off.

The victim said no, and the woman started swinging, cracking the van’s windshield.

Pierce County sheriff’s deputies found the van in the street and contacted Tacoma police, whose officers showed up and detained the woman and her companion.

The man told police that he knew the woman had gotten into the victim’s van looking for a “date” and said the woman was screaming for help as the van pulled away, so he chased after them to protect her. That’s why he handed her the hammer.

The hammer was seized as evidence. Officers never did find the keys to the van.

Officers said this isn’t the first time this year the woman had done something like this at that particular Pacific Avenue gas station.

This story was originally published July 12, 2018 at 3:17 PM.