A pair of robberies have hit Elma businesses in the past week.

On Aug. 25, one suspect broke into Thriftway. On Aug. 28, three suspects broke into Slates Corner Grocery Store.

Thirftway

Just after midnight, a male suspect gained entry to East County Thirftway grocery store at the 300 block of South Fifth Street.

While inside the store, the suspect attempted to break into the ATM machine but was unable to access the cash. During the attempts, the suspect used multiple tools and a drill he had found at Thriftway. Following his unsuccessful attempts with the ATM machine, the suspect attempted to break into the cash registers, however, those were locked.

The suspect was in the store for about two hours before a night janitor found him. The night janitor had been working in the building during the robbery but was listening to headphones and couldn’t hear the suspect’s activity.

When the janitor finally noticed the robbery in progress, he confronted the suspect. The suspect was armed with a saw, hatchet and other tools and had an ax in his hand. The janitor opened the door for the suspect and told him to leave.

Police were dispatched to the store at about 1:50 a.m. Officers searched the building and attempted to track the suspect, but they were unsuccessful.

The suspect stole cigarettes and alcohol from the store.

Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office deputies and officers from the Montesano Police Department also responded.

Slates Corner

Just after midnight on Aug. 28, three suspects broke into Slates Corner Grocery Store at the 1100 block of Monte Elma Road.

The suspects stole cigarettes and lighters before fleeing the scene.

Just after 5 a.m., an Elma Police Department officer on regular patrol noticed the damage to the front doors.

While no security system was in place at Slate’s Corner, the store did have surveillance cameras. Officers are reviewing footage of the suspects from multiple angles. Two of the three suspects were wearing masks. The police department believes all three suspects are males.

The Elma Police Department has posted images of the unmasked suspect to its Facebook page and is asking the community to contact the department with any suspect information at (360) 482-3131.

Given the two robberies to local businesses in as few as three days, the Elma Police Department is planning to respond with additional prevention measures. The two robberies are believed to be unrelated.

“The department is going to be out and about and doing a lot more area checking of these different stores,” said Chief Susan Shultz. “Slates Corner was a crime of opportunity, but the Thriftway suspect probably thought about it a lot longer.”

“We do the best we can with what we have, and we’ve got good successes lately in figuring out who’s who in the zoo,” Shultz added.