Valley Display House Robbed

Sheriff’s deputies are searching for a man who robbed a Spokane Valley specialty store Tuesday afternoon and escaped with an undisclosed amount of money.

A 27-year-old store clerk told deputies a 40- to 50-year-old man came into the Display House, 1510 N. Argonne, about 3 p.m. and demanded money. The clerk initially thought it was a prank and hesitated before giving him the money, said David Reagan, Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

“He repeated, ‘I’m serious. This is a holdup,”’ Reagan said.

The man stuffed a wad of bills into his jacket pocket and ran north from the store. Witnesses then saw a late 1970s or early 1980s Dodge Omni leave the parking lot rapidly on Mullan Road, cross all three lanes and turn east onto Mission Avenue. The light tan, two-door hatchback was last seen when it turned south on an unknown street, Reagan said.

No one was injured and no gun was seen.

Witnesses told deputies the suspect’s car had a Washington license plate with a partial number of 537. The car also had a dark spot on the hatchback.

Spokane city police stopped a car with a similar description an hour after the robbery, but the occupant was not the robber, Reagan said.

The suspect was described as white, 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, and 160 to 190 pounds. He was unshaven with brown, collar-length hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a white baseball cap with blue pinstripes, a light-colored, zip-up-style sweat shirt or jacket, a light-colored button-up shirt under the jacket, blue jeans, and white leather athletic style shoes.

, DataTimes