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Lakewood: Guard killed in robbery

June 10th, 2009, incident report by jbtaylor

  • June 2, 2009
  • 1
  • 1
  • 7001 Bridgeport Way
  • Lakewood
  • Washington
  • 98499

BRIAN EVERSTINE, STACEY MULICK. The News Tribune. Tacoma, Wash.: Jun 3, 2009. pg. A.1

Copyright 2009 The News Tribune All Rights Reserved.

Police continued to search Tuesday night for two robbers sought after an armored car driver was shot and killed inside the Lakewood Wal-Mart store, sending customers and employees diving for safety while thieves fled with a bag of cash.

Witnesses and investigators said one of the robbers walked up to a Loomis Armored guard as he was leaving the store, shot him in the head and fled, along with a second man, with the cash bag the guard was carrying. The guard was identified as 39-year-old Kurt Husted, a 16-year veteran of the company's Tacoma office.

A nearby man holding a small child was shot as well. The man, who had the child on his right shoulder, was wounded in the left shoulder and fell to the ground. He was taken to Tacoma General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The child was not hurt.

The robbers' getaway car was found abandoned in the 6600 block of South Monroe Street in Tacoma shortly after 3 p.m. Police continued to hunt for the pair into the night.

One was about 6 feet tall, average build and wore a white hat with colored trim across the bill, a long-sleeve white shirt and black pants.

The second is 6 feet to 6 feet 2 and wore a blue baseball hat, blue jeans and a blue short-sleeve button-up shirt over a white T-shirt.

The two entered the store at 7001 Bridgeport Way about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday while one Loomis guard was inside and his partner waited in the truck parked near the main entrance.

Patti O'Callahan of University Place was near the front of the store, shopping for baby clothes, when she heard shots fired nearby.

"About two minutes after I walked in, I heard the gun go off," she said. "Everybody was screaming and running all over the store. They were trying to find crevices to hide in."

Lisa Potter Maul arrived at the customer service area of the store moments after the shooting and walked into chaos.

"I was just walking in the door and two men ran past me," she said. "There was a lot of people trying to get out."

She said she saw a man lying on his stomach with a pool of blood around his head.

"I was just freaked," she said. "I thought it was something fake."

A witness who posted information on The News Tribune's Web site described seeing the guard shot.

"He had no chance to defend himself," the writer said. "It happened too quick. I see it over and over again each time I close my eyes. . . . He had people around him in the last minutes of his life that cared. I wish I could have helped."

Charo Canto, a Swiss citizen visiting friends in Tacoma, said she went into the store to buy mineral water and heard the gunfire.

Canto said she patted herself to make sure she wasn't wounded, and "gave thanks to God" that she was OK.

The robbers ran from the front of the store to a white 1993 Buick Skylark in the parking lot.

Officers later found the car, which was reported stolen April 20 in Tacoma, abandoned at South 66th and Monroe streets. Police dogs searched the area and were not able to find the men.

After the shooting, store employees quickly opened emergency exits at the back of the building and customers and employees fled outside. The parking lot filled with customers and employees, telling officers what they had seen.

Tacoma police, the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, University Place police and a Washington State Patrol airplane helped Lakewood police investigate and control the scene.

Bridgeport Way was closed for about two hours, causing backups across the area. Nearby Mount Tahoma High School was locked down as a precaution.

Loomis spokesman Pat Flaherty said all employees carry handguns while on duty and, though it wasn't required, Husted wore a bullet-proof vest. A Loomis employee was shot and killed last year in New Jersey, the first such shooting in at least seven years, he said.

"We're very distraught at the loss and at the senselessness of this killing," he said.

Crime Stoppers is offerin a reward of $1,000 for information leading to an arrest. Crime Stoppers can be reached at 253-591-5959

MIKE ARCHBOLD. The News Tribune. Tacoma, Wash.: Jun 4, 2009. pg. A.1

Copyright 2009 The News Tribune All Rights Reserved.

Four people, including a Wal-Mart employee, were in police custody Wednesday in connection with the fatal shooting of an armored car guard during a robbery Tuesday at the Wal-Mart store in Lakewood, police said.

Police also believe they have recovered about two-thirds of the money stolen from the guard, an amount they would describe only as being in the five figures.

Arrested and booked into the Pierce County Jail for investigation of murder, assault and robbery were Calvin Finley, 34; Odies D. Walker, 41; Tonie Marie Williams-Irby, 42; and Marshawn Turpin, 20, according to Pierce County Jail records. They are expected to be arraigned today in Pierce County Superior Court.

The four are: a man alleged to have killed the guard, a second robber who was in the store with him, a getaway car driver and a female store employee who helped set up the robbery, Lakewood police Lt. Heidi Hoffman said.

Two of them, a man and the woman, were arrested Tuesday night in a car in front of a Tacoma residence. Another man was picked up at a house in Tacoma on Wednesday afternoon.

The man who police believe was the gunman was arrested Wednesday morning at a Fife motel. He was found with a woman and a child who were released.

Matthew Dean, a mechanic at Northwest Mini, 3901 20th St. E. in Fife, was working about 8:30 a.m. when he heard sirens as police made the arrest near the Fife Motel 6. He stepped outside and saw a SWAT van blocking a car.

"The police had shut the streets off at either end and the SWAT officers swooped in," Dean said. "It was so fast."

SWAT teams were used in the arrest of all four people and no one was hurt, Hoffman said.

"We have more people to interview and there may be more arrests but at this time we believe we have all of the main players in custody," she said in a news conference called after the fourth person was arrested about 3:30 p.m.

Killed in the robbery was Kurt Husted, 39, of Lakewood, a 16-year veteran of Houston-based Loomis armored cars.

"I have seen the video tape of this murder," Hoffman said, "and there was no attempt to take that money peacefully. I did not see hesitation . . . this man was executed."

She said the Wal-Mart employee who was arrested was in the store at the time of the robbery and killing. "We believe the Wal-Mart employee gave the information to the other people involved (outside in the store parking lot) in connection with the comings and goings of the Loomis guard."

Hoffman said the employee was interviewed by police shortly after the robbery as "a person of interest."

The speed of the arrests, she said, was due to the assistance from many fellow law enforcement agencies and the public.

"We could not have brought this case to such a fast resolution without the overwhelming support from every law enforcement agency in Pierce County, including the federal government, the county Sheriff's Office and other municipal agencies that work with us cooperatively," Hoffman said.

She thanked the public for their efforts to identify the two men photographed by store cameras running from the store after the shooting. The photograph was placed on television stations, on the Internet and in newspapers.

"We were flooded with tips," Hoffman said. "Many of the tips turned out not to be valid but many of them turned out to be very good." Tips led to interviews, then surveillance and finally arrests, she said.

The case "fell like dominoes and there may be more dominoes yet to come," Hoffman said.

Hoffman said that as Husted turned to leave Wal-Mart with a bag of store money and pushing a small cart with other money, he was shot in the head by one of the robbers. Husted was shot inside the customer service area just inside the entrance to the store.

The bullet killed the guard and then wounded Wilbert Pina, a customer who was standing nearby with his 15-month-old son. Pina was shot in the shoulder; his son was not injured.

The robbers grabbed a money bag from the guard, fled the store and jumped into a waiting car that drove off after the shooting. The getaway car, which was stolen, was found later Tuesday afternoon abandoned in Tacoma.