Series of robberies may be related

A series of convenience store and gas station robberies in central Washington may be connected, authorities say.

John Turley, chief criminal deputy with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, said armed robbers are targeting stores in small or remote communities south of Moses Lake.

“I can’t imagine it being unrelated,” Turley said.

The most recent robbery was Wednesday night at a service station in Desert Aire, four miles south of Mattawa.

Three men described as Hispanic, wearing dark hooded sweatshirts, scarves and gloves entered a Shell station on Thunderbird Way shortly before 7:40 p.m., Turley said.

One man, described as 6 feet tall, pointed a semiautomatic handgun at the attendant and demanded money. A second man took a cash box containing less than $1,000. The third man took two 18-packs of beer before all three left on foot.

Sgt. Steve Jensen of the Mattawa Police Department said as many as 10 armed robberies south of Moses Lake in the past few weeks have investigators at several departments working together. “We’re just trying to put them all together,” Jensen said.

Descriptions of the suspects and their tactics are similar in several of the robberies, Turley said.