Sex Shop Robbery, Assault Suspect Sought In Tacoma, Puyallup

PUYALLUP, WA - Detectives reportedly believe the man who robbed an adult bookstore in Puyallup is the same person who sexually assaulted an employee from another adult store in Tacoma. Both incidents occurred over the past week.

According to Puyallup police spokesman Capt. Ryan Portmann, the suspect waited until closing time March 8 before robbing the Lover's Package in Puyallup, located at 4009 S. Meridian.

Video posted Tuesday to the Puyallup Police Department's Facebook page show the suspect enter the store around 11 p.m. March 8 wearing a black hoodie and a metallic-orange, pumpkin/skull-style mask. The suspect appears to grab a female employee by the throat before marching her through the store by the back of her neck.

After collecting an undisclosed amount of cash and a handful of sex toys, the suspect is seen leaving the store without further incident.

A few days later, around 1 a.m. March 11, two employees of another adult business located along the 6000-block of Tacoma Mall Boulevard called police after a male suspect confronted the pair in the store's parking lot.

According to the victims, the suspect punched the male employee before sexually assaulting the female employee.

The suspect, who was reportedly "lying in wait until the employees left the business," was described as a black male, roughly 6 feet tall and heavy set.

Detectives from both Puyallup and Tacoma are reportedly "pretty confident" their respective suspect is the same person, Portmann said. Tacoma police spokeswoman Loretta Cool agreed.

Portmann said he hopes someone from the region will recognize the suspect's clothing or gait and call the Puyallup police tip line at 253-770-3343.

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