Police Department

Off-Duty Officer Stops Robbery

Sgt. Terry Preuninger, PIO

Monday, September 21, 2020 at 2:54 p.m.

Robbery suspect thwarted by off-duty law enforcement officer.

On September 20^th, 2020 around 12:00PM SPD was dispatched to a T-Mobile store in the 4900 block of S Regal Ave for a robbery call.  SPD was advised by radio that the suspect, later identified as Cyrus Quarles (29), had a knife and a customer had Quarles at gunpoint.  The customer with the firearm was an off-duty law enforcement officer.

SPD arrived and detained Quarles.  A large kitchen knife in a red sheath was found in his back pocket.  Quarles initially gave SPD a false name before his identity was discovered.

SPD officers spoke to an employee who was still shaking and stated the following:

She was helping customers when Quarles came into the store, walked behind her, and she heard what she thought was plastic being cut.  She turned and saw Quarles attempting to cut the security peg to remove headphones from the rack.  Another employee saw this happening and confronted Quarles, telling him to stop.  Quarles turned to the employee while holding the knife with the point of the blade directed at the employee and told him to back off.

The employee backed off and a customer (who was an off-duty Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Detective) drew his sidearm and directed Quarles to drop the knife, which he did.  Because the suspect complied, the customer / off duty law enforcement officer then waited for SPD officers to respond.

Quarles was known to the store employees and had been in the store before without purchasing any items.

Quarles was transported and booked into Spokane County Jail on Robbery 1 Commercial.

2020-20165837

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