Seattle woman accused of spraying store clerk's face with fire extinguisher pleads not guilty

UPDATE October 13, 2014 -- Kristi McKinney pleaded not guilty to robbery and attempted robbery charges on Monday. UPDATE September 30, 2014 -- King County prosecutors charged Kristi McKinney with Robbery in The Second Degree after she was seen on surveillance video spraying a Shell gas station clerk in the face with a fire extinguisher on Sept. 22, 2014. Seattle police say she was trying to rob the store at 2424 Beacon Ave S. but couldn’t get the cash register open.  She later returned according to detectives and implied she had a gun. Again, she did not receive any money according to investigators and left when police were called. After video of the fire extinguisher attack aired on Washington’s Most Wanted, viewer tips to Crime Stoppers identified her. McKinney was convicted earlier this year of Disorderly Conduct and Attempted Malicious Mischief, both misdemeanors. She was also convicted of DUI 2012. McKinney is being held on $50,000 bail and will be arraigned Oct. 13th.

FUGITIVE CAPTURED September 25, 2014 --  After being featured on Washington's Most Wanted, your Crime Stoppers tips helped identify the suspect as Kristi Ann McKinney. On Wednesday, McKinney was arrested in Clallam County. She was transported to jail in King County where she's being charged with robbery. FUGITIVE WANTED IN SEATTLE September 12, 2014 --  Seattle robbery detectives say this fugitive has hit two places so far and are hoping you recognize her. This woman in her 30s with a buzz cut came armed with a fire extinguisher when she robbed a shell station. Retired Detective Myrle Carner has worked a lot of cases in his career and this was a first even for him. "You'll see the suspect in the store very casually kind of looking around at items,” Carner said. “She'll approach the clerk on duty. You'll see that she starts a conversation and then all of a sudden. Suspect pulls out a fire extinguisher and without any warning at all, just takes it, sprays it immediately in the face of the victim here, only three or four feet away.”

At one point, you see the suspect motion to someone off camera. Then, she casually strolls around the counter and tries to open the cash registers. The clerk is on the floor blinded by the chemicals and can't help her, so she doesn't get any more from the store. Take another look at how brazen she is, whipping out that fire extinguisher and then spraying right in his face, knocking him back and coating everything including the camera lens. This wasn't her only robbery. At Walgreens, investigators say she told the clerk that she had a gun. "She actually brings up several items for sale and he's starting to ring it up and in the middle of that sale, she says give me all your money and he looks up like, ‘What, you have to be kidding me,’” Carner said. She put her hand in her pocket and said she had a gun, so the clerk gave her the cash. That victim was lucky she didn't bring her fire extinguisher. But as crazy as this was, spraying the clerk in the face, it's her calm demeanor that's so unusual and troubling. "She's very intense, she's very direct,” Carner said. “That tells me that you better do exactly what she says. If she implies she has a weapon, she probably does, give her what she wants, get her out of the store so that you can live through the day." Detectives say she is in her 30s, 5’10” tall, 200 pounds and has blue eyes and that buzz haircut. If you know her name,  call an anonymous tip into: CRIME STOPPERS: 1-800-222-TIPS You must call the Crime Stoppers hotline with your tip to be eligible to receive a cash reward for information leading to a fugitive’s arrest. Click here for information on how to text a tip to Crime Stoppers.