A 19-year-old Kent man faces a first-degree robbery charge for allegedly stealing a 2006 BMW 325i at gunpoint from another man in Kent.
Abdimalik A. Hassan is scheduled to be arraigned March 4 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. King County prosecutors also charged him with unlawful possession of a firearm due to a previous felony conviction. Hassan remained in custody Feb. 19 at the Regional Justice Center county jail in Kent with bail set at $500,000, according to jail records.
Kent Police arrested Hassan Feb. 17 at a Kent apartment in the 20400 block of 106th Avenue Southeast. Detectives were unable to locate Hassan after the Jan. 1 robbery, but tracked him down as part of a sting when he agreed to purchase a gun from an undercover officer who connected with him on Snapchat, according to charging documents.
The man reportedly robbed by Hassan knew him from high school. They ran into each other at The City Smoke Shop, 417 Central Ave. S., and agreed to smoke marijuana in the man’s BMW. A friend of Hassan also joined them inside the car parked in the store’s parking lot.
While inside the car, the two men reportedly pulled out pistols and threatened to shoot the man if he didn’t get out of the car. The man fled. Hassan took the BMW and the other man left in a Honda Odyssey, which police later determined had been stolen out of Renton.
King County Sheriff’s Office deputies located and pursued the stolen BMW that same night, but lost sight of the vehicle during a pursuit along Interstate 405 into the Renton area.
In order to find Hassan, an undercover officer was able to set up a gun sale to Hassan on Feb. 17. Prior to the buy, detectives learned of his location in a Kent apartment and had Valley SWAT surround the unit. He surrendered to police without incident.
According to court documents, Hassan has a 2018 conviction for second-degree robbery and two 2017 convictions for second-degree robbery that involved carjackings and guns. He was a juvenile in those incidents.
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