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Police say Ruckus hit in $5K armed hold-up, Capitol Hill’s first big pot shop cash robbery

Seattle Police are searching for an armed robbery suspect who chose an interesting pair of gloves for his lucrative gunpoint hold-up of a Capitol Hill pot shop.

The October 29th incident at 15th and Republican’s Ruckus marijuana shop went unreported by media and SPD but a recently released incident report includes details of the heist.

 

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According to police, the suspect entered the shop around 10:30 PM, rushed the rear counter, and pointed a gun at two store employees working that Monday night before Halloween. The suspect was wearing a navy-blue bandana over his face and large, thick gardening gloves covered his hands, the victims told police. The man commanded the Ruckus staff not to look at him and put the gun to one of the staff member’s backs. They would later tell police the suspect “sounded old.” They described the suspect as a black male, around 5’8″, and wearing jeans and a black sweatshirt with the hood up.

The victims said the armed suspect came around the counter waving the gun and threatening to shoot. He demanded “large bills” and cleaned out the shop of $5,141 in cash. The heist took all of 45 seconds.

Police searched the area including the Capitol Hill light rail station several blocks from the scene but the suspect could not be located.

According to SPD, Ruckus was able to provide video showing the suspect.

The hold-up is the first major robbery CHS is aware of at an I-502 pot shop on Capitol Hill. Ruckus stands across the street from another neighborhood shop part of the Uncle Ike’s chain. In July, the White Center Uncle Ike’s was robbed at gunpoint in a case in which the suspect was caught on video but has not yet been identified and captured by police.

While Washington has legalized the pot industry, the retail business remains cash focused due to legal concerns over federal restrictions on banking and credit. Some Seattle retailers have experimented with payment solutions like cryptocurrency but, for now, most rely on cash-only transactions.

The Ruckus case remains open and is being investigated by SPD robbery detectives.

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kerry
kerry
5 years ago

This explains why they have a security guard posted outside now. Glad nobody was hurt.