Police Department

Patrol Makes Quick Arrest in Robbery with Help from Alert Citizens

Ofc. Teresa Fuller

Friday, August 5, 2016 at 7:21 p.m.

Spokane Police Patrol Officers arrested a suspect in a robbery less than an hour after the crime was reported this morning. Simon J Sohng (19) was taken into custody without incident and booked into jail for 1st Degree Robbery. Major Crimes Detectives will be looking into whether or not additional charges will be added at a later time.

This morning, August 5, 2016, at 7:58am, a woman was parked at Lacey/Sprague when a man approached her passenger window, reached in, and grabbed her purse. She fought back and after a brief struggle, the man tore the purse away from her and ran. Nearby citizens observed the robbery, noticed the man had a gun, and followed him to a home about a block away on Lacey. When officers arrived moments later, they were able to quickly determine Sohng was the suspect and reached him by phone. They also convinced him to come out of the house and took him into custody at 8:57am without incident, greatly reducing the risk to our citizens and officers. Sohng was booked into jail for 1st Degree Robbery.

A search warrant was obtained for the house; the victim’s purse, the gun used in the robbery, and a large quantity of prescription pills and cash belonging to the suspect were located inside. There is no further risk to our community at this time; the investigation continues.

This incident is a shining example of our community coming together to make our community safer. When the victim was robbed, several nearby citizens stepped up to provide excellent witness information to responding officers. This enabled our officers to quickly do what we do best: take a dangerous individual off the streets. We thank all of those who helped achieve a positive end to this incident.

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