SPOKANE, Wash. — A recent string of convenience store robberies in North Spokane has shopkeepers on high alert.
On July 19 around 2 p.m., a man robbed the 76 gas station near Monroe Street and Mansfield Avenue, about a mile from North Central High School.
A store employee said the man threatened him at gunpoint and took several hundred dollars. The suspect then went behind the counter and pocketed several cartons of cigarettes before sprinting out of the store.
Days later, on July 23, around 4 p.m., the same gas station was robbed.
The store’s surveillance footage shows the same store employee from the July 19 robbery jumping back as he is threatened at gunpoint for a second time; the suspect took between $600 and $700 before running out the door.
Two customers were inside the store.
Audie’s convenience store near Monroe Street and Boone Avenue was also robbed on July 18.
“Before I opened my mouth, he pulled a gun,” said one Audie’s employee named Phan.
Phan said the man demanded money from the register, and was upset when he found it was only $30.