Gunman Forces Store Employee To Open Safe In Early Morning Heist

A man wielding a sawed-off shotgun robbed a Spokane Valley grocery store and threatened one of its employees early Friday before fleeing with a wad of money.

The employee told Spokane County sheriff’s deputies that when he got to work at about 5:50 a.m., a man walked up to him in the parking lot in front of the Excell Food store at 14515 E. Trent.

The man showed the employee the shotgun and threatened him.

He forced the employee inside the store and ordered him to open the safe. The gunman then grabbed an undisclosed amount of money, tied up the employee and left the store.

Store management declined to comment, preferring instead to put the incident behind them.

“Everything is back to normal now,” an Excell spokesman said.

The robber was described as white, 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds. He was wearing a dark jacket, blue jeans, a stocking cap and a red bandanna over his face.

Drugs found on prisoner

A Valley man, who corrections officials said brought drugs and drug paraphernalia to the Spokane County Jail, faces drug charges following his arrest Friday.

Deputies arrested John D. Bowen, 30, on an outstanding warrant following a domestic violence dispute at 12603 E. Main.

They then took Bowen and a backpack he had with him to the county jail, said Lt. David Wiyrick, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

When a corrections officer searched Bowen’s backpack, he found drug paraphernalia and methamphetamines, Wiyrick said.

Bowen, who told deputies he lives at the East Main address, was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance.

, DataTimes