Bellingham robber beats 7-Eleven clerk unconscious over pack of Swisher Sweets; suspect arrested

A Bellingham robber knocked out the clerk of a 7-Eleven in a severe beating early Friday, sending the 65-year-old man to St. Joseph hospital, according to police.

Officers arrested Dante Hawk Gray, 22, hours later when he was found passed out at an Amtrak station on the other side of town.

Police received a silent holdup alarm at 5:12 a.m. from the mini-mart at 3209 Northwest Ave. Less than a minute later, a customer called 911 because the clerk had been knocked unconscious in an apparent robbery, said Lt. Don Almer.

Security footage shows the men got into an argument, Almer said: The robber threw things from the counter at the clerk, and the clerk threw what appeared to be a plastic squeegee at the man. The suspect went behind the counter and beat the clerk unconscious, with his fists, his knees and the squeegee.

Police found the clerk semi-alert, with facial bruises and his eyes swollen shut. He was rushed to the Bellingham hospital with injuries that aren’t considered life-threatening.

The suspect fled with a pack Swisher Sweets cigarillos, Almer said.

On Twitter police posted a photo of the suspect: a dark-skinned man in a dark oversized coat, with bluish white-striped Adidas shoes. No other security footage has been released.

Officers from the night shift recognized the man from a couple of earlier run-ins. Around 12:25 a.m. Friday, police were called to the Horseshoe Café in downtown Bellingham for a man accosting customers and drinking in public. An officer saw him take a swig from a can of Steel Reserve malt liquor, and cited him for drinking in public, according to police.

“Gray, like the color,” he told an officer, the report says. “Send the ticket in the mail.”

A half-hour later, at 1 a.m., Gray flagged down an officer outside of the McDonald’s on King Street to ask for $2, police said. He said he wanted to buy a McChicken sandwich.

Police used body camera footage from those contacts to confirm Gray was the robbery suspect.

In the afternoon, officers got a call about a man harassing people at an Amtrak station in Fairhaven, about 5 miles south of the 7-Eleven. By the time patrol officers reached the station, Gray had passed out at a table, wearing the same striped shoes from the security footage, Almer said.

Officers arrested Gray on suspicion of robbery. Detectives interviewed him, and booked him into the Whatcom County Jail around 3:40 p.m.

Court records suggest Gray has no felony record in Washington state.

This story was originally published March 31, 2017 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Bellingham robber beats 7-Eleven clerk unconscious over pack of Swisher Sweets; suspect arrested."