Two suspects arrested in armed robbery of Olympia Target store

Two people stole multiple pieces of expensive electronic equipment from Target in Olympia Sunday evening police say. And after a search that lasted well into Monday morning, two suspects are in custody.

Trenale Belton, 44, a Seattle resident, was arrested early Monday morning on suspicion of first-degree robbery while armed with a deadly weapon. Police didn’t release the name of the other suspect, who was arrested late Monday morning.

According to Olympia Police Department Lt. Paul Lower, two suspects went to Target in west Olympia just past 10 p.m. In the electronic department of the store, one of the men allegedly displayed a gun to a store employee, and demanded the employee fill a shopping cart with expensive equipment, including headphones and smart watches.

One of the suspects fled with the cart through an emergency exit, while the one armed with a gun forced the employee to escort him to the front of the store. Both suspects were seen leaving in a U-Haul truck. Police, responding to the robbery, found and followed the truck, Lower said. In the South Capitol neighborhood, both suspects exited and ran from the vehicle in opposite directions.

One of the suspect, whom police identify as Belton, was found that night hiding near a residential outbuilding. Thurston County Sheriff’s Office deputies and a K-9 unit assisted in the search and the arrest. He was arrested at 3:48 a.m.

Lower said police believed the other suspect to be in the area, and provided his description to public transit employees.

Around 10:30 a.m. Monday, police were notified by a bus driver that a person matching the suspect’s description got on their bus in the South Capitol neighborhood. Police met the bus near the Safeway store in Tumwater. The second suspect was arrested there without incident, said Lower, with the assistance of the Tumwater Police Department.

Lower said Monday afternoon that police were in the process of obtaining a warrant to search the U-Haul truck, and he believed they would recover the stolen items.

During a preliminary hearing in Thurston County Superior Court Monday afternoon, Judge James Dixon found probable cause to charge Belton with first-degree robbery while armed with a deadly weapon.

Belton was slated to appear for the hearing — which would determine his bail amount — however a corrections officer advised Dixon that Belton had refused to appear. Dixon ordered that Belton would continue to be held in the jail, and rescheduled his hearing for 3 p.m. Tuesday.