76-year-old vendor selling Mexican popsicles robbed at gunpoint in Tri-Cities park

Kennewick police are looking for a suspect who robbed an 76-year-old ice cream vendor at gunpoint in Columbia Park over the weekend.

Police said the man had walked several miles to reach the park to sell paletas, or Mexican fruit popsicles, and had $200 from earlier sales by about 5:50 p.m. Saturday.

Then a man pointed a gun at him and took his earnings and some of the treats he was selling.

Anything Grows at 1625 Columbia Park Trail in Richland, where he regularly passes by, has put out a tip jar to collect donations for him.

If the staff there do not see him return to his regular route past the store, the money will be donated to the Kennewick Police Department care fund.

Anyone with information about the robbery should call 509-628-0333 or leave an anonymous tip at www.kpdtips.com.

This story was originally published September 7, 2022 at 12:55 PM.