On Sunday, November 25th shortly after 7:30 pm, a suspected armed robber was shot at by a Yakima Police Department (“YPD”) sergeant while attempting to flee from the sergeant. The suspect fled the scene and remains at large. It is not known if the suspect was struck by the shot fired by the YPD sergeant.
YPD officers responded to the Subway sandwich shop located at 1300 North 40th Avenue at 7:36 pm on November 25th after being dispatched to a suspected armed robbery. Witnesses at the Subway told officers the suspected robber, who was described as a Hispanic man in his mid-20s with black hair, about 6 feet tall, and weighing about 200 pounds, had fled the sandwich shop and gotten into the passenger side of a nearby vehicle.
YPD Sergeant Joe Salinas, a 28-year police veteran, located the vehicle the suspected robber was reported to be in and conducted a traffic stop in the 700 block of North 40th Avenue. Once the vehicle stopped, the suspected robber exited from the passenger side and began running eastbound.
Sergeant Salinas directed the suspected robber to stop, but the suspect did not follow Sergeant Salinas’ commands. Sergeant Salinas then fired a single shot at the suspect from his YPD-issued rifle. The suspect continued to run from Sergeant Salinas and was not located again. Again, as of now, the suspect is at large and it is unknown whether the suspect was struck by the shot fired by Sergeant Salinas.
The driver of the vehicle the suspected robber excited from was arrested by YPD officers and booked in the Yakima County Jail.
In accordance with YPD policy, Sergeant Salinas has been placed on paid administrative leave while an investigation of the incident is conducted by the Yakima Valley Special Investigations Unit, which consists of investigators from multiple Yakima Valley law enforcement agencies.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact the Yakima Police Department at (509) 575-6200 or by calling 9-1-1. Tips can be also be reported to Yakima County Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-248-9980, on the organization’s website at crimestoppersyakco.org, or through the “P3 Tips” app that can be downloaded for free at p3intel.com/.
Additional information about this incident will be provided when it is available.
Armed Robbery Suspect Shot At by YPD Sergeant – News Release