Trouble over breath mints at Tacoma store leads to first-degree robbery charge

The 26-year-old man described it as a misunderstanding that involved a pack of breath mints.

Pierce County prosecutors called it first-degree robbery.

Charging papers give this account:

A worker at the Circle K store at 4704 S. Oakes St. identified the man as a “problem customer” and told him to leave Thursday. They argued, and the man left.

Then he returned, took the pack of breath mints and left without paying.

The employee ran after him and demanded he pay. He ran back into the store when the customer pulled out a handgun.

Police found the 26-year-old customer later that day and he explained what happened.

He said he’d gone to the store for fuel, and the worker accused him of recently stealing from the store. The employee took $5 from him in retaliation. The man said he couldn’t reason with the worker, so he took the breath mints because he couldn’t get his money back.

The worker followed him out of the store, the 26-year-old said, and yelled something to the effect that he was going to kill him if he didn’t pay for the mints.

The man said he pulled out the gun, because he feared for his life. He said he drove off after the employee ran away.

The man pleaded not guilty at arraignment Monday, and was released on his own recognizance, pending trial.

This story was originally published July 17, 2018 at 1:24 PM.