The King County Sheriff’s Office recently responded to a robbery call at a grocery store in White Center, where they encountered a woman with a kitchen knife:

Police say that on Monday, Mar. 22, 2021, at 6:39 p.m., King County deputies responded to the 9600 block of 28th Ave SW (map below).

Dispatch advised that a woman had threatened store employees with a kitchen knife while stealing merchandise. She was described as wearing a pink face mask, a black leather jacket, and a white shirt.

Deputies arrived and saw the suspect standing outside. There was a knife sticking out of her purse. By speaking with the woman and calming her down, deputies were able to de-escalate the situation and detain her.

The woman claimed she’d been “jumped” by the store’s loss prevention personnel and they had stolen her phone. Loss prevention employees explained to deputies that they caught the woman stealing items and concealing them in her purse. When they confronted the suspect she pulled a knife, estimated to be 10″ to 12″, and threatened to stab them. The woman then put the knife away but started patting herself down looking for her phone. She accused the staff of taking her phone.

Based on the stories given, deputies had probable cause to arrest the female. Incident to arrest deputies recovered the knife. They also asked the female for her phone number, which they called. As the phone rang, deputies located the phone inside the woman’s purse, where it had apparently been during the entire incident.

The suspect was booked into the King County jail for Assault 2nd degree for threatening to stab the employees.

Photos courtesy King County Sheriff’s Office