Police Department

SPD Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect

Cpl. Ronald Van Tassel

Tuesday, February 4, 2020 at 3:55 p.m.

On December 11^th, 2019, Spokane Police received a report of a Robbery at the T-Mobile store located at 4900 S Regal. Employee’s stated that there was a male in the store, later identified as Michael Budik. He was acting odd and they started to watch him. Budik went to several display phones and cut the metal cords away from the phones. Budik had obtained 4 phones, totaling over $3,000. An employee confronted Budik about stealing the phones. Budik pulled out a knife and instructed the employees to back off, which they did. Budik fled the store, got into a vehicle and then left.

The employees had taken a picture of Budik when he was in the store. That picture was sent out to Officers on patrol and due to Budik’s extensive criminal activity in Spokane that has lasted two decades, he was quickly identified. Budik was not located that night and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

On January 27^th, 2020, an Officer on patrol noticed Budik driving a vehicle in north Spokane. The Officers stopped the vehicle and confirmed that the driver was Budik, who was taken into custody. Budik was booked into jail for three different warrants, which included the one for Robbery, another for 2^nd degree theft and another for a Department of Corrections (DOC) violation.

Budiks convictions over the years include:

11 Felonies for 3^rd degree assault, 1^st degree robbery (deadly weapon), 3 counts community custody violations, Riot with a deadly weapon, 2 counts of 2^nd theft, Trafficking stolen property 2^nd, Identity theft 2^nd and Prisoner in possession of drugs.

He has 5 misdemeanor convictions of MIP, Obstructing and 3 counts of 4^th assault.

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