Man Charged in Key Peninsula Armed Robberies

A 46-year-old man has been charged in the armed robberies of two coffee stands and a liquor store that took place on the Key Peninsula last week.

According to court documents, Donald Armand Lemoine was formally accused in Pierce County Superior Court Monday of robbing , Smokin’ Hot Espresso and the , all at gunpoint. He has been charged with three felony counts of first-degree armed robbery.

The robberies occurred on Aug. 24 and 25 and became a hot topic on Twitter and Facebook after video of the incident at Smokin’ Hot Espresso in Purdy was uploaded to YouTube. It shows an older man wearing sunglasses and a visor pulling out a black revolver after casually ordering a grande Almond Roca mocha. He points the gun at the barista on duty, demands that she put money in a black bag and then orders her to the ground, telling her at one point, “You’re too beautiful to die.”

It is unclear if the posting of the video, which was recorded from a camera installed at the stand, in any way led to the Lemoine's arrest. However, the charging papers said that witnesses who viewed the video of the Key Peninsula Liquor Store robbery told police that the suspect looked like Lemoine. In addition, witness descriptions in all three holdups were similar.

Detectives who subsequently searched Lemoine’s apartment discovered a turquoise Toyota Corolla, shirt and white hat similar to those described by witnesses and victims in the robberies. Heroin was also found in the apartment with Lemoine and two other individuals, the court papers said.

Lemoine, whose bail has been set at $200,000, is also a suspect in a similar robbery in Mason County as well as a shooting in Tacoma, court documents state. The Mason County crime is thought to be the Aug. 25 armed holdup of Allyn Liquor Store and Gifts in Allyn.