Teen arrested for Kennewick coffee shop robbery. Police say he wasn’t the only one armed

A teen robbery suspect allegedly crawled through a Wake Up Call drive-thru window in Kennewick.

But when he started approaching the barista with his gun, she got her own weapon and fired a shot at him.

Both people escaped the tense situation unhurt. The teen suspect was later found during a traffic stop in Pasco and is heading to the Benton-Franklin Juvenile Detention center for robberies in both cities.

The barista reported seeing a vehicle circling the coffee shop before 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Then the 17-year-old suspect, whose name was not released, approached the drive-thru window, and showed he had a gun.

He then crawled through the window, as the barista backed away. He grabbed money from the register.

Then he started approaching the woman. That’s when she grabbed her legally-owned gun and pointed it at the teen, telling him to leave, Merkl said. The teen responded by pointing his gun at the woman.

She fired a shot, and he fell to the floor. She then escaped out the door, and he ran to a waiting car and fled. The car had been stolen from Richland earlier in the day.

Police later found the car in East Kennewick.

Pasco police, who were looking for the teen in connection with another robbery, found him in a car in the area of 10th Avenue and Henry Street about 4:30 p.m.

He was arrested and is being held on suspicion of first-degree robbery, first-degree assault, first-degree burglary and illegally possessing a gun.

This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 4:12 PM.