RENTON, Wash. — Renton Police arrested a man early Tuesday evening after he allegedly robbed four people at gunpoint in less than 30 minutes.
Detectives with Renton PD say this string of armed robberies is something they haven’t seen before.
“To have 3 separate incidents within a 2.7-mile span in about 15 minutes time, that’s a lot to deal with,” Renton Detective Robert Onishi remarked.
And investigators say where one of these robberies happened is one of the last places you’d expect: a daycare.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever had a call there,” Detective Onishi said.
Onishi says the suspect robbed someone at gunpoint in front of several people at a Chase Bank ATM near downtown Renton on Tuesday. He jumped in a white Ford Taurus driven by a woman, headed east, and stopped outside the Kiddie Academy daycare, where the next victims in this violent crime spree were parents picking up their kid.
“Then the male kind of nodded to the victim to look down, and when he looked down, he saw there was a gun pointed at him,” Detective Onishi described.
And it didn’t end there – right across the street from the daycare is a U.S. Bank where police say the same guy robbed another person at the ATM there. An officer responding to the scene spotted the woman driving that Taurus, which then led to them finding the suspect. Investigators say he took off running, but he didn’t get far.
“Scattered around him was money and some checks and cards,” Detective Onishi said.
Police credit eyewitnesses for the quick arrest, saying several people called 911 right after the man drove off from each scene.
“If something strikes you as strange or alarming or just sets off those little bells in your head, feel free to call,” Detective Onishi said.
Renton police say this man is being held at King County Jail under a $500,000 bond. As for the alleged getaway driver, she is not in custody because she told officers she didn’t know what the suspect was doing.
Meanwhile, the daycare owner is left trying to reassure anxious parents following this very traumatic experience. She sent KIRO 7 this alert that was sent out to all parents after the incident:
“Dear Parents and Staff,
We want to inform you about an unfortunate incident that took place in the parking lot we shared with Key Bank on the August 15th, 2023. During the pick-up time around 6:00 PM, one of our families experienced a distressing situation as they were targeted by a robber shortly after stepping out of their car. The robber came from the ATM at Key Bank, robbed the family and then moved on to the bank in the next parking lot. Another family called 911, our closing admin kept everyone inside and safe until police arrived. Police were quick in their response, caught the suspect and cleared everyone to leave the building. Majority of stolen items were returned and everyone involved is safe. The Renton Police Department has reported that the suspect will be charged with at least four counts of robbery in the first degree.
Going forward, we want to remind all of our families that everyone who needs to have access to the building needs to use their own code to enter. Please remember to stop people you don’t know and kindly remind them to use their code or ring the doorbell for admin assistance. Please always be aware of your surroundings, keep your kids close when in the parking lot, always lock your car doors, and never leave your child unattended outside or in your car.
Our first priority is always the safety of the kids, families and teachers. We have a secured front door and locked gates keeping our academy secure. We have procedures that we follow to ensure no one enters our academy who shouldn’t. Our teachers are trained to meet the highest standards and procedures for Academy lock downs. Our parking lot, playground, entrance and surrounding areas are monitored by video surveillance at all times.
We would like to take a moment to thank the Renton Police Department, our closing administrator, our closing staff, and the families who called to report the incident for being so committed to keeping our community and Academy safe.
Sincerely,
Kiddie Academy Admin Team”
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