SEATTLE — Hillbilly Hotties Coffee in Everett doesn’t serve a lot of bicyclists, let alone children, according to its owner.
So the barista working at the espresso stand at 4034 Hoyt Ave. on Sept. 2 was surprised when “a little boy wearing a pink bandanna headband” rode up to the drive-through window on a bicycle and ordered a fruit smoothie, Jovanna Edge said.
“She almost didn’t serve him because it’s not normal to see a kid on a bike, and it was crazy busy with a huge line of cars,” Edge said.
But the barista made the drink for the boy and told him what he owed.
That is when the child pulled out a handgun, leveled it at the barista and demanded money, according to Everett police. The barista pointed to her tip jar, which the boy emptied into his backpack before riding away with his drink in one hand, Edge said.
Using images taken from video surveillance at the espresso stand, Everett police said Tuesday they were able to identify the young robber as a 12-year-old Everett boy.
The boy has been charged with two counts of first-degree robbery in the holdup at Hillbilly Hotties, as well as an Aug. 28 armed robbery of an Everett convenience store.
In that case, police say, the 12-year-old walked into Peck’s Drive Market, 801 Peck’s Drive, pointed a black revolver at the clerk and demanded money from the register. The clerk complied, and the boy left, police said.
According to Everett Police Department spokesman Aaron Snell, the boy admitted to the two robberies after his arrest.
The boy told police he’d borrowed the gun from a 16-year-old Arlington teen, whom he knew from church. After the robberies, the 12-year-old returned the gun to the 16-year-old along with a portion of the money he’d stolen, police said.
The 16-year-old also has been arrested and charged with one count of first-degree robbery, prosecutors said.
The older teen is a suspect in the July 23 robbery of a Jimmy John’s at 909 Sievers Duecy Blvd., in Everett, police said.
According to police, the 16-year-old and an unidentified accomplice entered the sandwich shop wearing white surgical masks. One of the suspects pointed a black revolver at an employee and demanded money, police said.
When the cash register drawer was opened, both robbers grabbed cash and stuffed it into their pockets before running out of the business, police said.
Police said they are still working to identify the 16-year-old’s accomplice in the Jimmy John’s robbery.
The 12-year-old and the 16-year-old are being held at the Denney Juvenile Justice Center pending their arraignment this morning, according to deputy prosecutor Laura Twitchell.
The younger boy is being held on $10,000 bail and the older boy’s bail is $5,000, she said.
Prosecutors said they will not seek to charge either suspect in adult court.
According to The Herald of Everett, the 16-year-old has a felony burglary conviction from 2009 when he and other boys broke into an empty rental house in Arlington, vandalized every room, emptied the Koi pond and stole 14 fish.
