Police: 3 robberies near Washington State Fairgrounds appear related

Three Puyallup robberies near the Washington State Fairgrounds appear to be related, police said.

Some, if not all of the six victims were fair workers, police spokesman Ryan Portmann said. The fair was ending at the time of the Sunday night holdups, and many people were walking to their vehicles, he said.

“We have no reason to suspect that they were targeted just for being at the fair,” Portmann said. “Rather, I would surmise that this was just a crime of opportunity.”

He gave this account of the robberies:

Officers responded to a pair of pedestrians who were robbed at gunpoint of $106 and a backpack about 10:15 p.m. near 10th Street and Seventh Avenue Southeast.

The victims said a black man in his late teens or early 20s, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, got out of a mid-’90s Buick with three other men inside, robbed the pedestrians and then got back in the car.

As officers checked the area for the robber, other victims approached them.

Two women said they were robbed at gunpoint by three black men about 10:30 p.m. near the 800 block of 10th Avenue Southwest, between the fairgrounds and the Silver parking lot.

They said a purse, phone and car keys were taken.

In addition, two men said they were robbed at gunpoint in the same area about the same time by two black men who took a phone and keys.

A police dog was deployed, but was unable to find any potential suspects.

This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 9:02 PM with the headline "Police: 3 robberies near Washington State Fairgrounds appear related."