Detectives link teen, 21-year-old to more than 30 armed robberies in 2 weeks

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BURIEN, Wash. - Two people, including a teen, have been charged in connection to a string of armed robberies that occurred throughout King County within the span of two weeks in November.

According to court documents, 21-year-old Duke Vivao and a 15-year-old suspect hit a variety of gas stations, stores and restaurants between Nov. 2 and Nov. 18 in places like Seattle, Burien, SeaTac, Renton, Kent, Tukwila and Auburn.

In total, court documents say 37 individual armed robberies occurred in these areas of south King County. Vivao is facing charges for 36 counts of first-degree armed robbery.

The 15-year-old was only charged with two counts of first-degree robbery, first-degree attempted robbery and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

However, court documents said the teen would eventually be charged with "numerous additional counts of robbery for all the other robberies that he had committed over the past two weeks."

It appears that there were at least four suspects involved in this string of armed robberies, according to court documents.

Court documents indicate that Vivao and the 15-year-old boy were allegedly responsible for most of the robberies. At least two other women and possibly another person were also seen on surveillance footage from various locations that were robbed.

It's unclear if the two women have been arrested or charged in connection to some of the robberies.

Court documents allege the pair were involved in the following robberies, be it together or separately:

Nov. 2:

4:50 p.m, Gamestop, Auburn: "In addition to money, the suspect also stole four PlayStation controllers," court documents said.

Nov. 4:

11:53 a.m, Gamestop, Covington: "A single suspect waited until all the customers had left and then pulled out a silver handgun, pointed it at the clerk and threatened to shoot the clerk in the head unless he gave him all the money," docs said. Approx. $410 was stolen.
10:22 p.m., 76 Gas Station, SeaTac: Suspect threatened to "blow the clerk's ‘head off’" before stealing money from the register. Total amount stolen is unknown.

Nov. 6:

8:37 p.m., 76 Gas Station, Federal Way: Suspect again threatened to shoot the gas station clerk and made off with an unknown amount of money.
8:47 p.m., Arco AM/PM gas station, Federal Way: Suspect again threatened to shoot the gas station clerks and made off with an unknown amount of money.

Nov. 7:

5 p.m., Chevron gas station, Auburn: "Two subjects entered the business and pointed handguns at the employees and demanded cash and were able to take approximately $300 to $400.

Nov. 9:

7:10 p.m., 7-Eleven, Burien: Unknown amount of cash was stolen.
7:20 p.m., Shell Gas Station, Burien: Money and food stolen
7:46 p.m., Chevron gas station, Kent: Money stolen

Nov. 10:

2:20 p.m., Denny's restaurant, Kent: Money was stolen. "Suspects were seen leaving this robbery in a brown 2012 Kia Optima that had been reported stolen to Auburn PD" that day, court documents said.
4:55 p.m., Gamestop, Tukwila: Money stolen
5:14 p.m., smoke shop, Renton: Money stolen
5:30 p.m., 7-Eleven (12848 MLK Jr Way S), unincorporated Seattle: Money stolen
5:39 p.m., 7-Eleven (12702 Renton Ave. S), unincorporated Seattle: Money Stolen
Shortly after 5:39 p.m., at the same 7-Eleven: attempted robbery of two customers in the parking lot.
5:43 p.m, Chevron gas station: Money was stolen

Nov. 11:

4:54 p.m., Qdoba, Tukwila: Money was stolen
6:09 p.m., Subway, Kent: Money was stolen
8:09 p.m., 7-Eleven, Auburn: Money was stolen
8:50 p.m., Chevron gas station, Kent: Money and energy drinks were stolen.

Nov. 12/Nov. 13

11:32 p.m (Nov. 12), Arco AM/PM (251 Rainier Ave. N), Renton: Money was stolen
11:51 p.m., Chevron gas station, Tukwila: Money was stolen
12:17 a.m. (Nov. 13) Arco AM/PM (128th St), Renton: Money, a clerk's watch were stolen
12:32 a.m., 76 Gas Station, unincorporated Renton: Money was stolen
12:44 a.m., Shell gas station, Renton: Money was stolen
It is with the Nov. 12 and 13 robberies that court documents mention possible female suspects/accomplices.

Nov. 14:

11:35 a.m., Southcenter Mall, Tukwila: three suspects attempted to rob West Coast Boutique inside the mall. Court documents say they demanded tennis shoes-- the clerk refused and then a suspect robbed a customer inside of the store of the customer's shoes.
4:39 p.m., La Quinta hotel, SeaTac: Suspects entered the lobby armed with handguns and demanded money from the front desk and customers inside the lobby. A female suspect was noted in the court documents.
4:48 p.m., Chevron gas station, Burien
4:57 p.m., Chevron gas station, SeaTac
5:17 p.m., Hilton Garden Inn, Renton

Nov. 15:

12:34 a.m., Shell Gas Station, Burien: Money was stolen

Nov. 17:

7:27 p.m., 76 Gas Station, Renton: Cashier robbed at gunpoint
8:05 p.m., Shell gas station, Kent: Cashier robbed at gunpoint
8:12 p.m., 76 Gas Station, Covington: Cashier robbed at gunpoint, cash and tobacco products stolen.

The pair had also stolen at least two vehicles and shot at a man who tried to stop them from escaping after allegedly robbing the Covington 76 gas station by blocking their stolen vehicle with his own, according to court documents. The man was not injured in the shooting and was able to ram his car into the getaway vehicle, which disabled it. Three suspects ditched the vehicle and ran off.

Surveillance footage, cell phone records and social media locations were able to place Vivao and the teen at nearly all of the locations that were robbed, according to court documents. Detectives reviewed surveillance footage of days with multiple robberies and saw the two suspects were wearing the same clothing in all, linking them to each robbery, court documents say.

The gun seen on surveillance video being used in the robberies allegedly matches the handgun that the 15-year-old has, according to court documents.

According to court documents, Vivao allegedly committed these armed robberies while on release for DOC supervision for an assault conviction involving an attack on two strangers. He was granted a ‘First Time Offender Waiver’ in King County Superior Court in November 2019, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

"The defendant [Vivao] has admittedly engaged in a spree of violent offenses, without regard for that fact that he was not complying with court orders and DOC supervision the entire time."

He told detectives upon his arrest that "he was ‘on the run’ from DOC and that he had no money and needed some money, so he started doing robberies," according to court documents.

Bail was set at $504,000 for Vivao. He is currently charged for 36 counts of first-degree robbery, three counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle, two counts of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree assault.

"The defendant has proven that he is unwilling to abide by court orders, will not abide by conditions of release, is a flight risk and an absolute danger to the community if released," court documents said of Vivao.

Vivao’s next court appearance is his arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 29. The 15-year-old’s next court date is a case setting hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 4 at the Child and Family Justice Center.