10-05-2025
Plan to sell gun in Pierce County parking lot turns violent — was it legal?
A legal gun owner was looking to sell his AR-15 — but when he arranged to meet up with a potential buyer at the Spanaway Safeway, chaos ensued.
According to a Facebook post from the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, the victim was in the Safeway parking lot at 15805 Pacific Ave S when a car with four people — two juveniles and two young adults — drove up beside him. One of the suspects allegedly pointed a gun at the victim's head and demanded he hand over the rifle.
The post said the suspects — who weren't named in the post — took the AR-15 and a personal gun that was around the victim's waistband.
the incident happened at 6:30 p.m. towards the end of April., according Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Carly Capetto, who declined to give the exact date. The getaway driver was an 18-year-old woman and the other suspects were a 22-year-old man and two 17-year-old boys, Cappetto said.
'Thanks to witnesses who captured the license plate and description of the vehicle, deputies were able to determine the getaway car was associated with known juveniles with prior armed robbery and unlawful possession of firearms convictions,' the post said.
Police found the car a couple of hours later in the Sunrise area of Puyallup, the post said. The 18-year-old woman and one of the 17-year-old boys stayed in the car and complied with police, but the 22-year-old man and other 17-year-old boy ran out of the car and fled. Officers captured the 22-year-old man and took the three suspects into custody, the post said.
They found the fourth suspect in some bushes later on by using a K9 from the Puyallup Police Department, the post said.
Cappetto told The News Tribune the 18-year-old woman had a history of armed robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm and the 17-year-old boy who fled was recently wanted by the Orting Police Department for armed robbery.
'We [knew] that these people were out there committing these crimes,' Cappetto said. 'It was just a matter of finding them.'
The News Tribune asked Cappetto if it was legal for the victim to sell his AR-15 in a grocery store parking lot.
'It's legal if he's gone through all the proper procedures and gone through the gun store to have the background checks done on him and the buyer,' Cappetto said.
Cappetto said the victim told police he was just going to show the alleged buyer his AR-15 when they met up and then they were going to go through the legal procedures.
'Whether that was actually going to happen or not, I cannot verify that,' Cappetto said. 'If he had actually sold it in the parking lot that day without going through the proper method and filing that paperwork [it would be illegal], but how are we going to prove that, because it was stolen from him and he never actually got to meet the transaction?'
According to Washington state law, legal gun owners looking to sell their firearms have to go through a licensed dealer such as a gun store.
After they get to a licensed dealer, the buyer has to go through a background check. In order to go through a background check, they need to fill out federal, state and local forms and pay a fee. If the background check determines the buyer is ineligible to have the firearm, the licensed dealer must give the firearm back to the seller.
There are exceptions where selling or transferring a firearm to another person does not need to go through these procedures, including:
A transfer between immediate family members, which includes spouses, domestic partners, parents, parents-in-law, children, siblings, siblings-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and first cousins.
Selling or transferring an antique firearm.
A temporary transfer of a firearm if it is necessary to stop immediate death or serious injury, such as preventing suicide.
