Wonderland Gear Exchange just can’t get a break: they had yet another robbery on Wednesday, this one in broad daylight while the store was open.
Co-owner Ben Mawhinney said a man came into the store, walked around for a minute or two, then grabbed a few high-end jackets and sprinted out the store. Mawhinney raced out after the man, chasing him across the street and through traffic and south toward 77th.
“It was pretty clear I was going to catch him, so he started dropping the jackets hoping I’d stop. Eventually he dropped all of them and dashed into the neighborhood.”
They brought the gear back to the shop and then drove around the neighborhood looking for him. A bystander called police, and said they had him at the Thunderbird Tavern. “In talking with the folks who obtained him, it sounds like he ran through an alley and tried to break into someone’s house before being chased by a neighbor to Sands Showgirls, where he hid in the bathroom,” Mawhinney said. “The man who obtained him pressed chargers for attempted assault, so the perp was cuffed and carted off.”
Mawhinney added that there’s no evidence it was the same person who recently broke in to the shop (see past coverage here and here).
“We’re definitely ready for a reprieve from the excitement,” he said. “Having three incidents in the last nine days is exhausting. Hopefully word’s getting out that we’re not messing around.”
My Ballard Group member Tiana Faye took the above photo from the traffic light at 80th and 15th — she saw the whole thing happen just before 5pm on Wednesday.