Kennewick police investigating armed gas station robbery and drive-by shooting
The Kennewick Police Department is looking for a suspect involved in an early morning gas station robbery.
Kennewick Police responded to a call about an armed robbery just after 1 a.m. Tuesday at the Pik-a-Pop at 526 W. Columbia Dr.
Police say the clerk was robbed at gunpoint. No one was injured in the incident. The suspect ran away with an undisclosed amount of money. Officers searched for the suspect with a police dog, but he was not found.
Police are not releasing photos or video of the incident at this time.
Drive-by
Kennewick Police received numerous 911 calls of shots fired near the area of Vancouver Street and W. 6th Ave. at about 12:45 p.m. on Monday. Witnesses told police 3 to 4 shots were fired from a handgun.
Investigators said that two vehicles driving north on Vancouver Street from 10th Avenue exchanged gunfire and then sped off. One fled east and one north, and could not be located by police.
The area was canvassed and several small caliber ammunition casings were located and collected from the roadway. Nearby homes were searched for stray bullet holes, but none were found. Police do not know if anyone in the vehicles were injured.
The only vehicle descriptions provided by witnesses are a silver colored passenger car and a dark colored pickup truck. This case is still under investigation.
Assault
On Friday evening about 7 p.m. Kennewick police responded to a disturbance in with a weapon at the 200 block of South Benton Street. The reporting party told police a man had exited an apartment at the location and pointed a firearm at her and her children.
Kennewick police said officers were on scene within seconds and saw the man fleeing the scene. Police said the suspect, Roberto Contreras Villalobos, was told to stop by police but failed to comply with commands, instead running away and throwing a firearm while fleeing.
Contreras Villalobos was taken into custody without incident after more officers arrived on the scene. The firearm was recovered and found to be stolen out of Oregon.
Contreras Villalobos was arrested for four counts of Assault second degree, possession of a stolen gun, and obstruction and was booked into the Benton County jail.
