A man who is suspected of being an armed robber believed responsible for holding up 13 small businesses in Pierce, Thurston and King counties has been caught.
On Tuesday, Darryl Bush, 23, was arrested at a Lacey motel where he’d been staying.
A Pierce County sheriff’s detective working the cases noticed the robber “walked with a distinctive bow-legged gait” on surveillance video and remembered last year arresting Bush, who walked similarly.
Investigators then used Bush’s phone records to put him in the area of several robberies and listened in on phone calls between him and his girlfriend, who was in Pierce County Jail.
In one of the calls, Bush talked about having cash and in another he mentioned he was driving in DuPont. That call came moments after a holdup at a nearby Lacey spa, where the suspect held a group at gunpoint and pistol-whipped a customer.
Pierce County prosecutors have charged Bush with three counts of first-degree robbery, one count of first-degree assault and two counts of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
He pleaded not guilty and is being held on $1 million bail.
Prosecutors said he’s likely to be charged with the remaining 10 robberies in all three counties, including a pot shop in Tacoma, a Lacey spa, and a doughnut shop and saloon in Olympia.
For now, he’s charged with Friday’s robbery at a Parkland massage parlor where the suspect shot a female employee in the shoulder for hesitating to hand over her wallet, records say.
The robber was wearing a ski mask and gloves and demanded the employee’s purse after rifling through the business.
Detectives believe Bush is also the man who held up an espresso stand near Lake Tapps on Friday.
The female employee working handed over all the money but refused to give up her cellphone, according to charging papers.
Also on Friday, a man wearing gloves and a ski mask robbed a coffee shop in Parkland but did not point a gun at the female employee.
As he left, he told her “Thank you, have a good day,” records say.
Investigators watched surveillance footage from all the robberies and spotted a sedan driving by the massage parlor around the time of the holdup. A man can also be seen walking in the area, concealing something beneath his sweatshirt.
When deputies arrested Bush at the Lacey motel, they said they found a stolen Glock handgun in his room that matches the weapon used in the robberies.
Clothing worn by the robber was also found in the motel room.
