K-9 tracks down alleged cell-phone store robbers after high-speed chase in Pierce County

On Thursday afternoon, three people robbed $50,000 worth of electronics from a cell-phone store and were then caught by Pierce County deputies after a high-speed chase.

At 5:46 p.m., someone called 911 to report an armed robbery at the store on Meridian and 224th Avenue in Graham.

About seven minutes later, a Pierce County deputy spotted the suspects’ car. When the deputy turned to follow the vehicle, the driver ran through red lights and stop signs before pulling onto state Route 512, the sheriff’s department reported.

Pierce County deputies and Puyallup police flattened one of the car’s tires with stop sticks, and on Route 512 one of the tires came off. Three people deserted the car and ran up a nearby “extremely steep” hillside, which Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer described as near “the words toward the Edgewood/Summer Heights area.”

The deputies followed, and a Puyallup police K-9 unit joined the chase — specifically, Maverick, a 9-year-old German shepherd from the Netherlands.

Maverick stopped one of the alleged robbers after 100 yards, as the deputies and handler tried to climb the embankment by “bear-crawling.”

Maverick then followed the two other suspects, now at the top of the hill, through a residential area, the sheriff’s department reported.

Maverick found the second alleged robber in thick shrubs next to a home, and the third was found soon after and arrested, the department reported.

The three alleged robbers, all men, were identified as a 23-year-old from Seattle, a 37-year-old from Seattle and a 21-year-old from Renton. Electronics and cash were recovered from the vehicle, the sheriff’s department reported.

This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 12:56 PM.