Help ID attempted robbery suspect who threatened grocery store workers with knife, pepper spray

I realize times are hard, but threatening store employees with a knife and pepper spray to get what you want is never okay.

Seattle Police are hoping that the way a robbery suspect walks will help you identify him. 

Take a look at the surveillance video above showing him limping into the Smart Food Service store on 4th Ave. S. on February 11th.

Detectives say he hid several packages of meat and spices inside his coat and then tried to leave without paying. When employees blocked his path, officers say he pulled out a pocket knife with the blade open and threatened them, then waved a can of pepper spray in their faces. Fortunately, the can malfunctioned and didn't deploy.

He dropped the meat and then headed outside to a waiting green 2000 Volkswagen Beetle with an unknown driver behind the wheel. 

 

"He's got some kind of handicap where he limps with his right leg and his right foot turns in quite a bit when he walks, so easily distinguished and here's a guy that turns a simple shoplift into a robbery, just by the fact that he produces a knife and causes that fear, so another one we want to get off the street," said Ret. Sgt. Jim Fuda with Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound.

In addition to the limp, Seattle Police describe him as a dark-skinned black man in his 40s to 50s, 5'6" to 5'9" and missing teeth on the right side of his mouth. That info came from store employees who have had seen him stealing in the past.

If you know his name, Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound will pay you a cash reward of up to $1,000. Call 1-800-222-TIPS(8477), or use the P3 Tips app on your cell phone.