Police say teen accused of robbing Kennewick coffee shop tried to shoot pregnant employee

A teen is accused of trying to shoot a pregnant woman during a robbery at a Kennewick coffee shop.

Alden Sanchez Dominguez, 17, of Pasco, pleaded innocent to first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and illegally possessing a gun in Benton County Superior Court.

Sanchez Dominguez is accused in the Feb. 25 armed robbery inside the Wake Up Call coffee shop on Carmichael street.

The seriousness of the charges led to moving the case from juvenile to adult court. He is still being held in the Benton-Franklin Juvenile Detention Center in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Alongside his adult felony charges, he is also accused of first-degree robbery in Benton-Franklin Juvenile Court. The charges are connected to a Feb. 15 robbery at a Pasco convenience store.

Sanchez Dominguez has a lengthy history of crimes in the past year with convictions in Tri-Cities that include misdemeanor assault, theft and robbery.

Pasco Robbery

Police initially started looking for Sanchez Dominguez after a 9 p.m. robbery at the A Street Station in Pasco.

Security video showed two masked males walk into the convenience store. One of them, who had “Tigers” written on his sleeve, went to the bathroom, court documents said.

The other man, dressed entirely in black, approached the register and allegedly threatened the clerks. He took the cash out of the register and left the store.

The robber allegedly stole a Dodge Caliber, which he crashed near Clover Island in Kennewick.

Investigators linked Sanchez Dominguez to the robbery after the youth in the “Tigers” jacket turned up in Benton-Franklin Juvenile Court, court documents said.

He told investigators Sanchez Dominguez had told him about the plan to rob the store, but he didn’t believe the other teen was going to do it.

Wake Up Call Robbery

Then a week and a half after the A Street robbery, a stolen Hyundai accent was spotted circling the Carmichael Street coffee shop about 5:30 a.m. The car had been taken from Richland.

Security video shows the robbery suspect crawl through the drive-thru window with a black revolver out. Once he was through the window, he tucked the gun into his pants and grabbed money from the register, court documents said.

While he was taking the cash, the employee, a woman who was five-months pregnant, started getting money from her purse. She had a gun hidden inside the back and didn’t want the robber to take it, court documents said.

After he grabbed all of the money from the register, Sanchez Dominguez allegedly began moving toward her. The employee pulled out her gun and told Sanchez Dominguez to leave, court documents said.

Sanchez Dominguez allegedly backed up, dropped the cash and pulled out his gun.

Afraid for her and her unborn child’s life, the employee fired a shot at the suspect’s leg and then ran out of the store. The shot missed the man’s leg.

Sanchez Dominguez allegedly ducked, pointed the gun at the woman and pulled the trigger several times. His gun didn’t fire. Then he allegedly chased the woman out of the store, court documents said.

“The defendant is seen peeking around a corner of the business with his firearm attempting to see where (the employee) fled to,” court documents said.

Once he realized she escaped, Sanchez Dominguez allegedly fled the store.

As Kennewick detectives started searching for the robber, they learned Pasco police were looking for the same man, court documents said.

Sanchez Dominguez was arrested during a traffic stop later that day.