15-year-old suspect arrested in series of armed smoke shop robberies across Tacoma

According to the Tacoma Police Department, a 15-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with a series of armed robberies that occurred at smoke shops in Tacoma last month.

The teen is one of two people who are accused of robbing five different Tacoma smoke shops between February 14 and February 20. During that time, they also tried to rob a victim at an ATM.

In two of these incidents, at least one of the suspects is alleged to have struck one of the employees on the head with the butt of a rifle, resulting in one victim suffering from “serious injuries.”

Police say that video surveillance also showed the suspects getting out of a gray SUV at an apartment complex in Tacoma just before one of the robberies.

Robberies in Bellevue, SeaTac, and Pierce County all involve the same suspects.

Police were able to identify one of the suspects as a Tacoma teenager thanks to a community member’s tip after they shared images of the suspects with Crime Stoppers.

On Tuesday, he was taken into custody at a residence in Tacoma and booked into Remann Hall on seven counts of first-degree robbery.