Teens suspected of robbing South Hill store at gunpoint arrested after pursuit, crash
Update, 12:35 p.m.: Pierce County sheriff’s deputies said a fourth person was arrested in connection to the armed robbery. Deputies said an 18-year-old who fled after the suspect vehicle crashed was spotted walking near state Route 161 and Ohop Drive North, and Eatonville police arrested him.
Original story: Three teenagers suspected of robbing a South Hill convenience store at gunpoint Friday morning were pursued by Sheriff’s Department deputies to Eatonville, where the teens crashed and fled until police dogs found them.
Two 16-year-old boys and a 15-year-old girl were arrested. Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies said they would be booked into Remann Hall, the juvenile detention center.
The robbery was reported at about 5:33 a.m. near the intersection of Meridian Avenue East and 152nd Street, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Department. An employee reported that three males robbed him at gunpoint and drove south in a white Kia.
A deputy spotted the Kia driving south on Meridian Avenue East in Graham and attempted to stop it, but deputies said the driver fled. It was reportedly a stolen car. From there, the deputy chased the car south on state Route 161 into Eatonville, 15 miles south of where the Kia was spotted.
After losing sight of the car for a few minutes, deputies said they spotted it, and the driver backed into a patrol car. The driver then hit stop sticks deputies had deployed, and the pursuit resumed north on the highway.
The suspects crashed just south of Ohop Lake at Orville Road East, and deputies said the alleged robbers ran from the car. According to the department’s statement, one 16-year-old boy was quickly arrested, and a police dog was deployed to track the other two suspects.
The police dog led deputies across a a creek and through several residential properties. Deputies reported that a resident said a person had been in her yard who asked her to call his mom because police were chasing him. At about 8:18 a.m., the dog found the other two suspects, reportedly soaking wet, in the area of 414th Street Court East and 120th Avenue Court East. Deputies said they requested medical aid due to concerns of hypothermia.
Deputies said they were continuing to search for a gun used in the robbery.
