Tacoma massage parlors robbed, employees terrorized. Two men now arrested and charged
Two men who allegedly robbed Tacoma businesses at gunpoint one day in August have been arrested and charged.
Isayah A. Fua, 21, and Brandon Reading, 21, were charged in Pierce County Superior Court on Tuesday. Fua was charged with first-degree robbery, unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Reading faces charges of first-degree robbery, unlawful imprisonment and second-degree assault, according to court records.
Pleas of not guilty were entered for Fua and Reading during their arraignments Tuesday afternoon. Their bails were set at $125,000, court records show.
Tacoma Police Department posted on X Thursday morning that on Aug. 18 at about 6:40 p.m. two men committed a “takeover style robbery.” The men were allegedly armed and entered a business at the 600 block of Pacific Avenue. They forced multiple employees into a back room where they were held at gunpoint.
The men allegedly searched for cash and then “violently” dragged the women by their hair and assaulted them before leaving.
At about 7 p.m the same day, the men allegedly committed a takeover-style robbery at a business in the 13400 block of Pacific Avenue. Detectives believe the people who committed the first robbery also committed the second one, the X post said.
Court documents show that the men targeted two massage parlors. Officers identified the suspects through video surveillance and witness testimony.
The X post said that on Sept. 11, TPD’s Special Investigations Unit and SWAT took the two men into custody. They served search warrants at both arrest locations and recovered evidence related to the robberies.
Prosecutors wrote that Reading has criminal history in Arizona with a felony charge of human smuggling from 2022. Prosecutors will add an unlawful possession of a firearm charge if they discover he has prior convictions.
Fua is prohibited from owning firearms as he has a juvenile felony conviction for second-degree burglary and a “serious offense” from 2020. He was arrested for second degree-robbery in 2018, prosecutors wrote.
Reading and Fua’s pretrial hearings are scheduled for Oct. 9, court records show.
