Employee among three arrested in robbery of Tulalip outlet store

Three suspects, including an employee, have been arrested in connection with the armed robbery that took place at the Coach store at the Seattle Premium Outlets Mall at 7 a.m. May 27.

The employee is a 22-year-old Marysville woman, who's been booked along with her boyfriend and another man, both 26, into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree robbery, second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment.

According to Tulalip Tribal Police, two of the store's employees were preparing to open the store to customers when the bell rang for the delivery door at the back of the store.

When the manager opened the door, the two male suspects rushed into the store with bandanas over their faces , one armed with a handgun and the other armed with a rifle.

The robbers reportedly bound the employees' hands with plastic ties, took an undisclosed amount of cash and fled the scene. After about 10 minutes, one of the employees was able to free her hands and call 911. Neither of the two employees were injured.

"A vehicle of interest was identified from video surveillance driving to and from the store during the times of interest," Tulalip Tribal Police Chief Jay Goss said. "We obtained the license number which led us to our first suspect interview June 15. That suspect returned some of the cash that had been taken and gave us information that led to our second suspect interview June 16. That suspect surrendered some more of the cash that had been taken, as well as an AK-47, a semiautomatic handgun and some of the clothing worn during the robbery. He confessed to his role and identified the store employee who was the inside person in their robbery."

The employee, who was picked up the same day as the second suspect, allegedly informed the male suspects of the layout of the store's back room, including where its safe was located. According to Goss, approximately $7,000 of the more than $20,000 that was stolen from the store has been recovered, with detectives currently following leads on some of the remaining monies. Goss credited the arrests to perseverance on the detectives' part.

"They stayed on this hard to track these people down," Goss said. "They went through several hundred vehicles on video surveillance before they spotted the one that had dropped off the employee at the store. It was just good detective work."

Contact Marysville Globe Reporter Kirk Boxleitner at kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com or 360-659-1300 Ext. 5052.

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