The Daily World
Two similar armed robberies on the same stretch of State Route 109 just west of Hoquiam in a two-day span have Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office deputies looking for a suspect with dyed red hair and a neatly-trimmed beard.
The first incident occurred in the early evening of July 21. A man was driving westbound near mile post 5 when he was flagged down by another man who asked for help with his wife, whom he said had fallen. The victim followed the man into the woods and the suspect robbed him at gunpoint, according to a statement from Undersheriff Brad Johansson.
The victim was left in the woods and not discovered until shortly after midnight, when friends of the victim found his abandoned car, said Johansson.
On July 23, at about 7 p.m., a woman picking blackberries in the same section of road was approached by a man who asked her for a ride to the hospital to see his wife.
“The victim saw a handgun tucked into the male’s pants and decided not to give him a ride,” said Johansson. “The victim returned to her vehicle and got inside. The suspect grabbed the victim and tried to remove her from the vehicle. The victim was able to spray the suspect with pepper spray and he ran away.”
The woman was not injured and called 911.
Deputies, with assistance from the Aberdeen Police Department K-9 unit, thoroughly searched the area, but were unable to locate the suspect. During the busy Ocean Shores Hog Wild weekend, there was significant police presence along that stretch of 109 during much of the day Saturday.
“This is possibly the same suspect of the armed robbery the previous day,” said Johansson.
In both incidents, the suspect was described as a male about 6 feet tall with dyed red hair. The female victim described him as having a pierced left ear, straight white teeth (possibly dentures) and “reddish eyebrows,” said Johansson.
“If anyone knows someone matching this description who may have recently dyed his hair red please call and report this information to the Sheriff’s Office,” said Johansson. “I believe someone will recognize the description of the suspect and the Sheriff’s Office needs help from our citizens to identify the suspect. The suspect was armed with a handgun on both occasions; please do not approach or contact the suspect, call 911.”
A suspect has not yet been identified. Anyone who may have witnessed the suspect in the area or saw anything suspicious on State Route 109 is encouraged to call the nonemergency line, 360-533-8765.
