Surveillance video shows man robbing Puyallup store at gunpoint. Have you seen him?
Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies are asking the public to help identify the gunman who robbed a popular corner store near Puyallup last week.
The robbery occurred April 15 at the Handy Corner store in the 8000 block of 112th Street East. It’s the same business where, in 2019, an armed robber shot and killed 79-year-old Soon Ja Nam, who owned the store with her husband.
The store was sold in 2020 to its current owner, Tanvir Singh, 47. On Thursday, Singh said recent robberies in Pierce County had him worried something like this might happen to his own shop.
“Every day I hear the news that this store is being robbed, an ATM is being stolen from a store and the police are not doing enough to catch the people,” Singh said.
The robbery at Singh’s store occurred about 8:45 p.m., deputies said. Surveillance video shows a man pull a silver handgun immediately after walking in and point it toward an employee at the register . The clerk tossed cash at the robber, who left and entered a car waiting nearby.
Pierce County deputies shared video of the robbery Thursday, asking anyone who recognizes the man to contact the Sheriff’s Department or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers. The robber was described as a 6-foot-4, 200 pound Black man who appeared to be between ages 30 and 35. Deputies said he was wearing a white jacket, black hoodie, blue jeans, black gloves and a black mask.
Singh moved to the United States from India’s northern Punjab state in 1995. He said that he was driving a cab picking up passengers at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in 2019 when he first saw news stories about the deadly robbery at the Handy Corner. When he bought the store the next year, he told The News Tribune he hoped to continue the previous owner’s reputation for kindness.
The store has retained the name Handy Corner. Singh said he felt keeping the name was a tribute to Nam.
Handy Corner is not the only store in Pierce County that has seen repeat robberies. In March, police arrested two men suspected of robbing 14 stores at gunpoint, including a T-Mobile store in Spanaway that was hit twice. Singh said he was aware of another local store that he says was robbed three times in the same week.
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 1:45 PM.
