Police arrest teen wanted in murder of Tacoma pot shop employee, string of robberies
A 15-year-old wanted by Tacoma police for a string of armed robberies and a killing that occurred last month during a cannabis shop robbery in the city’s Eastside neighborhood was arrested Monday by Seattle police.
The teenager was arrested in Kent outside the Maleng Regional Justice Center, according to a news release from Tacoma Police Department. He and 16-year-old Montrell Hatfield — who has yet to be apprehended — were charged March 24 with first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. The News Tribune typically does not publish the names of juveniles charged with crimes but is naming Hatfield because he is charged as an adult in Pierce County Superior Court.
The 15-year-old was transported to Remann Hall Juvenile Detention Center and booked for investigation of first-degree murder. It has not yet been determined whether he will be charged as a juvenile or an adult, but Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Adam Faber said prosecutors will seek to charge the teenager as an adult.
The pair are suspected in at least 10 armed robberies at pot shops in Pierce and King counties. Police said Hatfield is considered to be armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on his whereabouts was asked to call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
The deadly pot shop robbery occurred March 19 at a business in the 3200 block of Portland Avenue. Police responded just after 10 p.m. that night when dispatchers received calls regarding an armed robbery there.
When police arrived, they found an employee who had been shot and who was declared dead on the scene. The Pierce County medical examiner later identified the victim as 29-year-old Jordan Brown.
The robbery occurred three days after the teens cut off home detention monitoring devices they were ordered to wear for home detention following their arrest for allegedly robbing a pawn shop in Federal Way.
Video from surveillance cameras showed a person, later identified as Hatfield, fighting Brown after the victim tossed back a trash bag he had been ordered to fill with cash, according to charging documents. The teenager arrested Monday allegedly broke up the fight by shooting Brown in the neck, and the teens ran out the door.
After interviewing witnesses and reviewing video from surveillance cameras, Tacoma police began to suspect the robbers were the same people involved in a string of pot shop robberies with similar circumstances in King and Pierce Counties.
Detectives noticed Hatfield had an “oddity” in his gait, and footage showed a prosthetic leg beneath his pants as he fought with Brown. Upon reviewing surveillance video from other pot shop robberies, detectives discovered the suspects fit the same description and occasionally wore the same clothing.
Police were able to identify the teens because they were arrested Feb. 22 after allegedly robbing a Federal Way pawn shop. They were released from jail and placed on home detention.
This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 3:12 PM.
