GNC Employee Assaulted With Protein Powder During Robbery

KIRKLAND, WA - An employee at a GNC store in Totem Lake was assaulted with a gallon jug of protein powder during a Wednesday robbery.

Kirkland police said a man entered the GNC along Northeast 124th on Wednesday and began robbing supplements from the store. When the employee tried to stop him, the robber hit her in the face with the protein power, police said.

The suspect fled the scene, but the incident was caught on camera, so police had a good description of him. In an attempt to disguise the stolen goods, the robber went to an adjacent Wendy's restaurant and got a paper bag. Police caught him hold the bag at the Shell gas station, just east of the GNC along 124th.

Despite the assault, police said that the employee was OK.

Supplement robberies are somewhat common, Kirkland police said, because thieves can sell the expensive supplements on the street at a discount, but still make a large profit.

In February, Pierce County Sheriff's detectives were trying to track down three men who robbed over $1,800 worth of GNC nutritional supplement merchandise from Rite Aid drug stores in Spanaway and South Hill. But robbers have targeted GNC stores across the country recently, from Port Hueneme, Calif., to New Orleans.

Image via Associated Press/Mark Lennihan