Puyallup cops beef up patrols after ‘rare’ armed robberies near fair

Puyallup police are increasing their presence in response to a string of armed robberies near the Washington State Fair.

There have been three robberies reported near the fairgrounds, all at gunpoint and all victims were fair employees.

“This whole thing occurred within 7 or 8 minutes from each other,” said Captain Ryan Portman with the Puyallup Police Department.

“On Sunday night at about 10:15 p.m. we took our first robbery report, on the east side of Meridian [Street],” he said. “A subject was approached by a couple of individuals, they presented a handgun and demanded his money. He complied and they fled in a white Buick or Cadillac-style vehicle.”

The car was described as a ’90s-era vehicle, according to the News Tribune.

“About 7 minutes after that, we got a report of another two robberies on the west side of Meridian &#8212 similar suspect description, and again a handgun was presented,” he said.

Portman said that all the victims were leaving after work, walking to their cars in a fair parking lot. The robbers took cash, a backpack, a purse, cell phones, car keys, and other valuables.

The suspects are described as four black males. The individual holding the handgun was in his early 20s and wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt.

Portman would not give specifics as to how and when police are increasing their patrols. But he did say that the armed robberies are unusual for Puyallup. Property crimes are more common in the area, he noted.

“This is highly unusual for us to see crime like this during the fair. We have a lot of officers out and about, so it’s pretty brazen,” he said. “We don’t tend to have a lot of violent crime during the fair … An armed robbery is pretty rare for us.”