Marijuana deal goes sour: Teenager charged in Tacoma armed robbery
A 16-year-old boy with prior felony convictions is accused of robbing two young women at gunpoint in Tacoma.
The teen was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm for allegedly robbing the 21-year-old and the 18-year-old during a marijuana deal last month.
The News Tribune doesn’t typically name minors who are charged with crimes.
According to court documents:
The suspect and another male got into the back seat of a car at First Creek Middle School on Dec. 4 and directed the women to drive down various streets in Tacoma’s Salishan neighborhood, where the suspect is a resident. They told the women they needed to drive to a residence and pick up a scale.
At one point, the suspect told the women to stop and he pulled out a revolver. He demanded money and their cellphones and said, “I’m a Hilltop Crip, what do you expect?”
I’m a Hilltop Crip, what do you expect?
16-year-old suspect in armed robbery
One of the women told police that the suspect cocked the gun before taking a combined $53 from them and one of their cellphones. He left the other woman’s phone behind, after learning it had a tracking device, and fled the scene.
The suspect has three felony convictions, including second-degree robbery, and six misdemeanor convictions. He also has a pending warrant out of King County. He’s claimed to be a gang member before.
One of the previous robbery convictions involved “distinctly similar conduct,” records show.
In that case, he got into the back seat of a car along with another individual for a marijuana deal before pulling out a gun and robbing the victims.
Kari Plog: 253-597-8682, @KariPlog
This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Marijuana deal goes sour: Teenager charged in Tacoma armed robbery."