Deputies Arrest 2 In Connection To Spanaway Armed Robbery

LAKEWOOD, WA — Pierce County deputies have arrested two men who they say were behind an assault and robbery in Spanaway Tuesday evening.

According to the sheriff's department, two people flagged down a deputy on Pacific Avenue just after 6 p.m. to report that they had been attacked and robbed at a nearby home. Both victims said they had gone over to a friend's house to loan them some money, but were attacked by an armed man inside the house, who took their cell phones and wallets. One of the victims had been repeatedly punched and pistol whipped during the robbery, and was bleeding when they met the deputy.

After a search that lasted through the night and into the next morning, the Violent Offender Task Force found one of the attackers in a home on 169th St. E. in Spanaway. Just before noon, the 40-year-old suspect left the home and deputies arrested him on suspicion of robbery and assault.

The second suspect was found in Eatonville just after 1 p.m. Wednesday. Deputies say that when their teams arrived to take him into custody, the man refused to leave the home and barricaded himself inside a garage. After 45 minutes of standstill, the SWAT team was called and preparing to breach the garage when the suspect left the building and surrendered. Deputies say the 44-year-old man had been hiding out in the garage's loft in temperatures over 110 degrees and appeared to be suffering from severe dehydration.

Medics treated the man, and he was booked into the Pierce County jail on suspicion of robbery and assault.