Staff Report

A suspect armed with a knife threatened an employee and robbed the Verizon Wireless store on Mercer Island of approximately $23,500 worth of new cellular devices on Dec. 9. The employee was not injured and called 911 after the suspect fled.

Mercer Island police officers were dispatched to the armed robbery at approximately 7:30 p.m. in the 7600 block of Southeast 27th Street, according to a press release.

The suspect contacted the employee as he was exiting the store after closing and made him go back inside and open the safe. After grabbing the cellular devices, the suspect bolted from the scene.

Officers arrived within minutes after receiving an alarm activation from the store at the same time as the 911 call. They could not locate the suspect in the area from the description given by the victim. Officers and detectives are working with evidence located at the scene and surrounding areas in their ongoing investigation.