Police: Men win big at casino, then get robbed in Marysville

MARYSVILLE, Wash. - The suspect in the armed robbery of two men in Marysville on Sunday morning has been arrested in Mill Creek.

The 32-year-old Everett man is suspected of robbing two men of their casino winnings at gunpoint in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant in Marysville.

The robbery happened at 7:45 a.m. in the parking lot of the Jack-In-The-Box on 4th Street, according to Marysville Police Commander Robb Lamoureux. The suspect had followed the two men from the Quil Ceda Casino, where the three men had some interaction earlier in the morning.

Lamoureux said that the suspect walked up to the two men at the Jack-In-The-Box, started another conversation, then was invited inside the car to go through the drive-thru and get some food. As the three men were eating in the car, the suspect pulled out a handgun, pointed it at the head of the driver and demanded his casino winnings, around $5,000, while telling the passenger not to move.

Once he got the money from the driver, he turned the gun on the passenger and demanded his money. After the passenger complied, the suspect got out of that car, crossed the parking lot, got into his own car and took off.

A search of the area failed to turn up the suspect, but a Tulalip Police officer was able to get an image from surveillance video at Quil Ceda Casino that matched the description of the robbery suspect. Lamoureux said an alert was sent out to other law enforcement agencies, with the suspect photo, soon after.

The suspect was spotted by Mill Creek Police just after 10 a.m. in the parking lot of the Lowe’s on 132nd, on the north edge of the city. The suspect tried to run from his car after police started to approach him, but was quickly caught. The two victims were brought to Mill Creek, and Lamoureux said they identified the suspect as the one who robbed them.

The 32-year-old man was taken to the Snohomish County Jail in Everett and booked for armed robbery.