Police Nab Suspect in Sex Toy Store Robbery

Issaquah Police on Tuesday arrested a man they believe is involved in two robberies of Lovers sex toy stores within a week.

Detective Sgt. Kevin Nash of the Issaquah Police Department said Issaquah Police had been developing leads in an armed robbery of the Lovers in their city last week.

"We reviewed the video from Redmond, and to us it looked like the Issaquah robbery," Nash said.

Police arrested the suspect Tuesday night in the 22500 block of S.E. 56th in Issaquah, near where he lives in an apartment complex, which happens to be near the Issaquah Lovers store.

Nash said police were waiting at his vehicle when he came up to it. On searching the vehicle, police recovered cash, the clothing he is believed to have used in the robberies, and a black "Airsoft" gun that looks very much like a .380 Beretta semi-automatic weapon, Nash said.

"When I saw it I was like, 'Oh, wow,'" he said, because it looks like the real thing until close inspection.

"You have to think about what effect the gun has on victims," even when it's not real, Nash said.

Nash said it was thanks to good police work by the department's patrol officers and detectives that the suspect was caught. He was booked into King County jail Tuesday night on Burglary 1 charges in the Issaquah heist, and likely will be arraigned Thursday. The Redmond Police Department is still investigating its case, Nash said.

The Redmond Police Department has not officially named the 42-year-old Issaquah man as a suspect in its case.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect information from the Redmond Police Department.