Tacoma police arrest man suspected in string of robberies at shopping center

Tacoma police on Friday arrested a 35-year-old man suspected of six robberies, most of them at businesses in a shopping center in the city’s West End.

Police said the man robbed the same Emerald City Smoothie shop three times in a week-and-a-half at the Highland Hill Shopping Center. A Subway sandwich restaurant was held up twice.

Tacoma Police Department officers arrested the man without incident Friday. According to a news release from the department, detectives identified the robbery suspect on Thursday and established probable cause to arrest him for the six robberies.

Police did not disclose details of the robberies, including whether the suspect was armed.

The man was booked into jail on suspicion of six counts of first-degree robbery. Police said they are continuing to investigate.

Police said the man was linked to the following robberies:

• April 5, 2022 Subway: 5961 6th Ave.
• April 13, 2022 Subway: 5961 6th Ave.
• April 13, 2022 Emerald City Smoothie: 5977 6th Ave.
• April 19, 2022 Taqueria El Sabor: 1636 S. Mildred St.
• April 20, 2022 Emerald City Smoothie: 5977 6th Ave.
• April 23, 2022 Emerald City Smoothie: 5977 6th Ave.

Peter Talbot

The News Tribune

Peter Talbot is a criminal justice reporter for The News Tribune. He started with the newspaper in 2021. Before that, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Indiana University. In college, he worked as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C. He also interned for the Oregonian and the Tampa Bay Times. Support my work with a digital subscription