He wrote that there were customers in the café at the time (four, according to the police report), and the man began speaking to her in a quiet voice and soon lifted up his shirt to reveal the butt of a handgun jutting from the front of his wasteband.
"Give me the money," the robber softly ordered.
The barista related to Ray that the robber seemed nervous, and possibly scared, and didn't think to demand more money from the till or other parts of the store. The victim handed over several hundred dollars and the man walked out. Ray noted that one of the male customers immediately followed the robber for a short time, thinking he had stolen the tip jar but not knowing the man was armed. However, the customer decided against following much farther due to the suspect's size.
When the man left, the police said a 911 call from the café reporting the robbery came in at 6:51 p.m. Officers were dispatched two minutes later. By 6:56 p.m. the first of eight patrol officers had arrived on the scene.
According to Ray's listserve post and Seattle Police Department spokesman Mark Jamieson, the man stands at 6 foot 2 inches, weighs around 200 pound and has a wide frame with a wide face holding close-set eyes.
Both parties described him as being of Hispanic and/or Native American descent with no noticeable accent. He sported short-cropped black hair and has dark-tan, pocked skin.
During the robbery, Ray and Jamieson noted he wore a white undershirt beneath a loose-fitting, blue and white plaid-patterned button up shirt, khaki pants and a green baseball cap. Ray stated that the customer who followed watched the man get into the passenger side of a late-model, silver two-door sports car with a hatchback. The driver immediately left the area as soon as the robber got inside.
Ray stated to the Georgetown e-mail group that he felt the robber and his driver had cased out the café for the crime, a suspicion that Jamieson was unable to corroborate.
"I believe these people cased the coffee shop (and maybe other places) around the neighborhood to check for security cameras. If you do not have a security camera in your business and you're open to the public, beware of any suspicious people coming in, looking around, and then leaving for no reason," Ray wrote. "I hate to mention this, but I saw a number of gangster-looking 'thugs' (wearing clean and new super-baggy sports-team clothing) meandering around the street near the coffee shop a day or two before it got robbed. They looked nervous and suspicious, like they had just done something wrong. I shrugged it off as my own paranoia and just assumed it was some lost kids."
Jaimieson stated that a description of suspect and his getaway car was broadcast to the on duty Seattle Police Department officers and the Washington State Patrol. A search of the area for the suspect and his car proved unsuccessful.
All City Coffee owner Seth Levy could not be reached for comment before this issue went to press.
Erik Hansen may be reached via editor@sdistrictjournal.com.[[In-content Ad]]