Federal Way Police arrested three Kent juveniles Oct. 28 for investigation of a recent string of purse-snatching cases in Federal Way and surrounding jurisdictions.
On Oct. 19, Federal Way Police officers responded to a purse-snatching robbery at Fred Meyer in Federal Way. A short time later, another purse-snatching robbery occurred at WinCo Foods. In both incidents, elderly female victims were assaulted and injured by a female suspect as their purses were taken.
Witnesses provided officers with a license plate for the suspect’s vehicle, which was returned as stolen, according to a Federal Way Police statement. The Federal Way Police Department released photographs of the male and female suspects to the media to identify them.
On Oct. 28, a gas station employee recognized the male suspect from the photographs. Officers responded to the gas station and found the suspect in the parking lot reportedly driving a stolen vehicle. When the suspect saw officers arriving, he fled in the car into Tacoma.
Federal Way officers pursued the suspects for their alleged involvement in the robberies. After a short vehicle pursuit, the vehicle became disabled, and the occupants fled from the vehicle. The driver, a juvenile male from Kent, was immediately apprehended by officers. The passenger, a juvenile male from Kent, fled into a residential neighborhood and was also taken into custody by the responding officers.
The driver was booked into the King County Youth Detention Center for investigation of eluding a police vehicle and possessing a stolen vehicle.
The detectives conducted follow-up investigations, and the juvenile male suspect was reportedly positively identified by the victim for the purse-snatching robbery, according to police. A juvenile female also was identified. Police plan to forward the cases to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for potential robbery charges against each juvenile.
Police did not release the ages of the juveniles.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated from an earlier version with the correct number of arrests and which juveniles were in the vehicle pursuit.
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