Half-Naked Robber Given Alcohol, Cigarettes to Keep Him Happy While Holding Grocery Store Hostage at Gunpoint, According to Police

A hostage situation involving a half-naked robber at a Gold Bar Family Grocer lasted over three hours, according to police. (Photo: Flickr/Neil Hodges)

A Washington man was arrested after he allegedly held a grocery store cashier hostage at gunpoint for over three hours.

According to police, he was naked from the waist down throughout the entire incident and had to be given alcohol, food and cigarettes to keep him happy until the standoff came to a close.

Authorities say that an unidentified man entered a Gold Bar Family Grocer in Washington with his pants in his hands around 6:15 pm on Tuesday.

He immediately made a beeline for the supermarket’s back office. Inside, a cashier counting an open till mistook the man for a confused patron. She initially thought he was looking for the bathroom given that his pants were already taken off, police say.

Instead, he locked the door, sat in front of it and took out a .45-caliber pistol, according to reports.

In the ensuing three-hour hostage situation, the man reportedly told the cashier that people were “chasing him and trying to kill him.”

The rest of the staff were evacuated from the supermarket as a SWAT team and a hostage negotiator arrived at the scene, according to the police report.

At 9:45 pm, negotiators reportedly convinced him to unlock the door and come outside without his gun.

He was arrested for investigation of first-degree kidnapping, felony, indecent exposure and misdemeanor.

No one was injured in the course of the standoff, police reported.

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