Bellevue police arrest man in serious of pharmacy robberies, burglaries

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Bellevue police arrested a 27-year-old Woodinville man on Tuesday in connection with a Bellevue pharmacy robbery and two pharmacy burglaries in King County.

On Feb. 1, the King County Sheriff’s Office responded to a theft at the Rite Aid pharmacy in Kenmore in which the suspect jumped over the pharmacy counter and stole prescription cough syrup.

The next day, deputies were called to another theft from a pharmacy at the QFC in Shoreline. Again, a suspect jumped the pharmacy counter and stole prescription cough syrup.

In that case, deputies found a handprint left by the suspect. The print was collected and submitted for identification.

On Feb. 4, Bellevue police were called to a pharmacy robbery at the Bartell Drugs in the 11900 block of Northeast 8th Street.  According to witnesses, the suspect jumped over the pharmacy counter, demanded prescription cough syrup and stated that he had a gun.

The man ran from the scene, but a traffic camera later showed him getting into a silver Toyota pickup.

On Feb. 29, King County AFIS determined that the handprint lifted by deputies from the Shoreline incident had a match in the system. The suspect was subsequently identified in video surveillance from all three incidents, as well as by witnesses.

He is also the registered owner of the silver Toyota pickup involved in the Bellevue robbery, police said.

Detectives from the Bellevue Police Department and King County Sheriff’s Office also served a search warrant on the man’s Woodinville home, where they found clothing which matched the clothing worn by the suspect in all three cases.

Cox Media Group