A man arrested in West Seattle early today is a suspect in two street robberies – one here, one in Capitol Hill – according to police, who are still seeking a second suspect. From the report published on SPD Blotter this afternoon by Det. Jeff Kappel:

At approximately 1:00 a.m. this morning the two female victims, 26 and 27 years of age, were walking in the area of Delridge and Genesee when they were confronted by two black male suspects. One asked for a cigarette which the victims didn’t have. Both victims continued walking. A couple seconds later they were approached from behind by one of the suspects. This time he was armed with a handgun and demanded their purses.

At the same time a witness was leaving his house to walk his dog and interrupted the robbery, causing the suspect to run off. The witness and the victims chased the suspect and observed him enter a waiting vehicle driven by a second suspect at 25th and Genesee.

The vehicle sped off, but the victims and witness got a good description of the vehicle that they passed on to 911.

Responding officers located the suspect vehicle parked in the 2300 block of SW Brandon Street. One suspect was standing next to it with the trunk open. He was detained and the victims were brought by for a show-up. The detained suspect was subsequently identified as the driver of the suspect vehicle that had fled the scene a short time earlier.

The suspect was placed under arrest and was discovered to have in his possession property belonging to both female victims. The suspect was also in possession of property belonging to the male victim from the Capitol Hill armed robbery committed 30 minutes earlier. Officers contacted the Capitol Hill victim whose suspect description was similar to one of the suspects currently under arrest. Upon further investigation officers recovered a handgun from the suspect’s vehicle.
Robbery detectives responded to the scene to assist and interview the suspect.

The 25-year-old male suspect was booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Robbery.
His vehicle was impounded and taken to the evidence garage to be processed for forensic evidence.
One armed robbery suspect remains at large. Anyone with information about this suspect or who may know his identity or whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the Seattle Police Robbery Unit at (206) 684-5535. Anonymous tips are welcome. This remains an active and ongoing robbery investigation.

Here’s what SPD Blotter had published earlier about the Capitol Hill robbery.