SEQUIM — A 58-year-old Sequim man was in custody Wednesday after a confrontation with the owner of a West Washington Street tobacco shop in which the man allegedly brandished a pocket knife.
The incident was reported at about 1 p.m. as an armed robbery, said Police Chief Bill Dickinson, but investigating officers found that the store owner, Young Chang, confronted the man who he believed to be in the process of shoplifting a store item.
“When we investigated, we learned he did not use the knife for reasons of robbing the store,” Dickinson said.
“However, what he was doing was what appeared to be shoplifting.”
Dickinson said officers are getting a copy of the store videotape of the incident before recommending charges against the man, who was to be booked in the Clallam County jail.
Chang, owner of C K Smoke Shop, 457 W. Washington St., said that a man attempted to rob him. He said he was OK and declined to comment further.
“The bottom line is there was some sort of altercation there, some form of disageement,” Dickinson said.
The police chief said the man left the store after the confrontation and Chang called police.
Through store video, the man was identified and he was arrested four blocks away on South Fifth Avenue.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
