PORT TOWNSEND — A Port Townsend man has been charged with attempted robbery in the first degree after police said he tired to rob a gas station while armed with a stick.
Elijah K. Maxwell, 18, was arrested Monday night. He remained in the Jefferson County Jail on Tuesday on $5,000 bond.
Officers were dispatched to the Sea Breeze Gas Station, 1408 Sims Way, just after 9 p.m. Monday, the Port Townsend Police Department said.
Officers spoke to an employee who said a man had demanded money from the register and threatened to beat her with a stick if she didn’t comply, police said.
The man fled before police arrived and before the employee handed over any money, police said in a news release.
The employee told police the man wore goggles similar to that of a biplane pilot, a black hoodie and a beanie.
Maxwell was found by a State Patrol trooper near the corner of Hendricks and Seventh streets less than a quarter of a mile from the gas station.
He was found with goggles and a screwdriver, police said.
A four-foot stick with metal wrapped around one end was found near a shop next to the gas station, police said, adding that it was likely the handle end of a gardening tool.
Police said that Maxwell told them he went into the Sea Breeze Gas Station and told the employee to open the cash register so he could take the money.
Police said Maxwell told them he needed enough money to “get out of this town.”
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
