PORT ANGELES — Detectives have begun collecting surveillance camera footage from a Port Angeles pizza shop and surrounding businesses to attempt to identify the man who robbed the Front Street store after waving a gun Monday afternoon.
Police believe the robber likely used a black replica handgun in the 2:05 p.m. robbery of Papa Murphy’s Take and Bake Pizza at 1405 E. Front St., Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith said Tuesday.
Smith described the replica as a black plastic gun that closely resembles a Colt model 1911 handgun.
“We haven’t absolutely established that [it was used in the robbery], but all the facts would indicate that,” Smith said of the replica handgun, which was found nearby, alongside a scarf the robber reportedly used to cover his face.
The robber, a white man in his 30s about 6 feet tall, took cash from the registers and fled west on foot on Front Street.
Police did not release the amount of cash taken.
The robber was described as having a husky build and wearing a camouflage baseball cap, a Hawaiian shirt with images of cars over a dark sweatshirt and dark pants.
Smith said police have identified “persons of interest” in the robbery — individuals separate from the suspect who might know about the robbery.
Both city police and Clallam County sheriff’s detectives are canvassing surrounding businesses for surveillance footage that might have shown the robber and looking for other witnesses, Smith said.
“Our detectives, their detectives and [our] patrol officers are working on this as we speak,” he said.
Port Angeles police officers, Clallam County sheriff’s deputies, National Park Service rangers and Lower Elwha Klallam tribal police searched the area after the robbery, but did not find anyone matching the man’s description.
Police found the plastic gun and a scarf believed used by the robber on South Vine Street, north of East Sixth Street, Smith said.
Officers and a police dog attempted to track the robber in this area, but the search was unsuccessful, Smith said.
Officers also recovered clothing thought to belong to the robber on Caroline and Vine streets, Smith said, including a Hawaiian shirt with images of cars on it.
The search was called off at about 3:30 p.m.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the robbery to call police at 360-452-4545.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
PORT ANGELES — Law officers searched surrounding neighborhoods unsuccessfully for a man who waved a gun and robbed a Papa Murphy’s Take and Bake Pizza at 1405 E. Front St. on Monday.
The gun may have been a toy — a plastic replica handgun, and a scarf believed used by the robber to conceal his face, were found nearby.
The robbery occurred about 2:15 p.m., with the man escaping west on Front Street with an unspecified amount of cash from the registers.
Port Angeles police officers, Clallam County sheriff’s deputies, National Park Service rangers and Lower Elwha Klallam tribal police quickly responded to create a “containment area.”
Police found the plastic gun and a scarf believed used by the robber on South Vine Street, north of East Sixth Street, said Brian Smith, deputy chief of police for the Port Angeles Police Department.
The search shifted to that area, and police dog attempted to track the robber, but the search was unsuccessful, Smith said.
Officers also recovered clothing on Caroline and Vine streets, which are thought to belong to the robber, he said.
The search was called off at about 3:30 p.m.
The robber was described as a white male in his 30s, about 6 feet tall, with a husky build and wearing a camouflage baseball cap, dark pants and a gray jacket with multiple logos on it.
Smith asked that anyone who saw a man running from the area or climbing though yards, or anything else that was suspicious, to phone police at 360-452-4545.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
