Armed robbery suspects remain at large
In a surveillance image, one suspect in Thursday's armed robbery jumps up on the counter while an employee and customer are tied up behind the counter. The sheriff's office has not yet identified the suspects.
GEORGE - Law enforcement are still seeking the four armed men who robbed Sandoval's Market in George Thursday night.
The sheriff's office released surveillance Friday from inside the Frontage Road store showing four masked and armed men running from a vehicle, later found to be stolen, inside the store about 8 p.m. The video shows the men demanding money from one of the two employees inside.
An employee told the Columbia Basin Herald one employee attempted to hide in the back of the store when a suspect chased her and took her to a back office where a suspect kicked open the locked door and tied the woman to a chair.
Surveillance video shows several times during the robbery, one of the suspects puts a gun in an employee's mouth before tying her up.
Shortly after the suspects entered the store, a customer pulled up and all four suspects hid. When the male customer walked in, one suspect immediately points his weapon at the man, who quickly dropped to the ground and was taken behind the counter and tied up. The suspects attempted to use belts from inside the store to tie up the customer. Nobody was injured during the robbery.
When the suspects fled the store, one employee was able to untie herself and locked the front door before calling 911. The suspects got away with all the cash in the register, also taking cigarettes and energy drinks before fleeing in the stolen vehicle, later found abandoned on Beverly Burke Road, according to the sheriff's office.
Store employees said it seemed the suspects knew where everything was in the store. After entering, one suspect immediately ran to lock a backdoor and another suspect went straight to the cash register.
Detectives also obtained video from about two and a half hours before the robbery, when four men pulled up to the store in a blue 90s model minivan and walked over to a nearby taco stand. The owner of the taco stand said the men told her they were from Vantage and they began asking questions about the market including when it closed and how many employees would be working. The sheriff's office has not yet indicated if the four men are persons of interest in the robbery.
Anyone with information, or who saw any unusual people or vehicles in or near George Thursday night is asked to contact the sheriff's office at 509-762-1160, or send information to crimetips@co.grant.wa.us. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
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