SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane police arrested two suspects around 11 p.m. Wednesday night after they assaulted a Safeway employee and tried to steal store merchandise, according to a Spokane Police report.
Officers located the suspects after the Safeway employee waved down an officer at the 900 block of W. Francis Ave. The employee provided a description of the man and woman to Deputy Horton, according to the police report.
The employee told police he confronted the suspects after they were walking toward the exit doors carrying baskets full of items they didn't purchase.
During the assault, the female suspect lowered her shoulder and shoved the employee in the stomach. The male suspect struck the employee with a gallon milk jug, and he warned the victim that he would stab the employee if he came at the suspects again.
The employee had a cut on his hand and several store items were scattered across the pavement in front of the store.
The merchandise the suspects attempted to steal totaled over $194.
Police located and arrested the two suspects identified as 24-year-old Jacob Kirl and 25-year-old Janay Solomon near Monroe St. and W. Rosewood.
Kirl and Solomon initially denied trying to steal from the store and blamed the victim for starting the altercation. But after being advised the store security footage had been reviewed, they both confessed.
At the completion of the investigation, Kirl and Solomon were taken and booked into the Spokane County Jail for first-degree robbery.
