FERNDALE - A bottle of Grey Goose vodka turned into a robbery weapon this weekend outside the Ferndale Haggen when a shoplifting suspect attacked an employee and left him with a broken arm, police said.

Two young men - Eric Jon Robinson Jr., 20, and Tytan Vincent David Jameson, 19 - walked out of the grocery store at 5:20 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17, each toting two bottles of vodka, said Ferndale Police Lt. Bill Hatchett.

A teenage employee confronted them near the front doors. Jameson tripped as he started running away, so the employee was able to catch up to him. Robinson spun around and threatened to stab the employee, according to police. Then he hit the teen with one of the vodka bottles, shattering the glass and fracturing the employee's arm, Hatchett said.

Both suspects escaped, briefly, by driving off in a Ford Freestar van. An officer patrolling the area pulled them over about two blocks away on LaBounty Drive.

Robinson and Jameson, residents of the Lummi Reservation, were booked into jail on suspicion of robbery in the first degree. Police didn't find knives or any other weapons on them.

Jameson's juvenile court record shows convictions for fourth-degree assault and minor in possession of alcohol.

Reach Caleb Hutton at caleb.hutton@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2276. Read his Dispatcher blog at blogs.bellinghamherald.com/dispatcher or get updates on Twitter at @bhamcrime.