Police say the suspect in a Broadway coffee shop hold-up escaped officers Monday as the city’s MLK Day march passed by.

According to the SPD report on the incident, the suspect entered QED Coffee near Broadway and James around 2 PM and handed the barista a note “telling her that he had a gun, and to make it easy for the both of them and give him the money in the till.”

According to police, the barista said she emptied the register and handed over an undisclosed amount of cash to the suspect who then fled the shop before rushing back inside to demand the barista also give back the note even though he had already grabbed it. The suspect then fled the shop and the barista called police.

Police say an officer monitoring the MLK Day march as it passed through the area arrived immediately and broadcasted a suspect description: “a light brown skinned male, 20-30 YOA, 5’10”-5’11”, brown eyes, dark face mask, wearing 3 dark colored jacket with hood up, the outermost jacket was a blue vest type with gray sleeves, multiple dark colored fabric bags, something orange around his head or face, and reportedly smelled like cologne.”

Officers at the march identified a male in the crowd matching the description but a witness was unable to identify him as the suspect. Police say the man spotted in the march was “never detained.”

There were no reported significant injuries, and no arrests.

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