A woman was arrested for attempted robbery after threatening a clerk with a can of mace at the Mobil service station in Hoquiam on Monday evening.

A woman entered the store, located in the 2600 block of Simpson Avenue, shortly after 7 p.m. Monday and “produced a can of mace, and demanded the clerk turn over the cash from the register,” said Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Myers. The clerk was able to flee to the back of the store and barricade himself in an office while another employee called 911.

The clerk was not injured, “although the suspect attempted to spray the clerk,” said Myers.

The suspect left the store with no cash and fled down an alley toward Aberdeen Avenue. Myers said officers converged on the area and were assisted by a K9 unit from the Aberdeen Police Department, which tracked the woman down the alley before the scent abruptly stopped, said Myers.

“As officers and detectives reviewed the surveillance video, they discovered a green sedan had parked about a half block from the store before the robbery,” said Myers. “The suspect was observed walking to the store from the car and then returning to the car immediately after the robbery.”

A neighbor about a block from the store told officers a woman with the described car used to live in the area, said Myers.

“Officers were able to identify a possible suspect name and then located a license plate for the vehicle as listed in a 2018 vehicle collision report in Aberdeen,” said Myers. “An attempt to locate for the suspect was broadcast to all local law enforcement agencies; the suspect was believed to be living out of her car somewhere in the area.”

The suspect was located shortly after 11 p.m. in her car in the Walmart parking lot and arrested by Hoquiam officers. The clothing worn in the robbery and a can of mace were recovered from the car, said Myers. The woman, a 40-year-old transient, was interviewed by detectives and then booked in the Grays Harbor County Jail for attempted robbery.