TACOMA, Wash. — Employees of a Tacoma laundromat say they’re on high alert after a man they confronted about stealing used bear mace on a staff member and then took off. Tacoma police confirm it’s not the first time the alleged thief has hit the shop.
“There was no signs of anything, I was cleaning the machines and everything, you wouldn’t even notice that he did it,” said Sheila, a Tops Laundry employee who asked we only use her first name.
On a slow summer day inside this Tacoma laundromat, a man in a gray sweatshirt is seen on surveillance cameras reaching into a bag for what looks like a screwdriver – a few turns and the laundry machine coins inside are his.
“He had a special tool of some kind that he manufactured himself,” said employee Michael Davison.
Employees say the man in gray hit more than a dozen machines and left without anyone noticing, adding that the suspect in the video doesn’t seem too concerned with being caught. He was in here for more than an hour the first time and seemed oblivious to the half dozen or so cameras capturing his every move.
That was back in June. Staff at Tops Laundry were on alert so when Davison heard something strange on July 14, he knew something was up.
“It sounded more like there was a lot of quarters hitting – and you only hear that when somebody is emptying out the machine,” Davison said.
Davison did what no police department would recommend. He confronts the suspected thief and gets a face full of bear mace.
“I almost had him, it was close but that third shot was just too much I just couldn’t see I couldn’t breathe I couldn’t do anything,” Davison said.
Tacoma police responded in both cases and say they have detectives working on the case. But in the meantime, the shop on the South end is taking no chances.
“I’m constantly watching, looking for suspicious activity, I see things where there aren’t things now. I’m nervous as heck. I really am,” Davison said. “It’s the most horrible experience I’ve ever been through in my life. That bear mace is no joke.”