Man accused of stealing ring, shoving retail employee from Olympia store

 A 28-year-old man was arrested on Sat., Oct. 16, after he allegedly shoved a retail employee and ran off with a ring valued at $3,200 from a store in Olympia.

Olympia police said a loss prevention officer for the retail store reported that he was assaulted while trying to prevent a theft.

The employee said that the suspect, identified by police as Joaquin Dominic Wiley, of Tacoma, entered the Macy's store in  the Capital Mall, tried on a ring, then ran out of the establishment without paying.

The employee told police that he managed to catch up to Wiley outside the store, but the suspect claimed that the ring belonged to him.

After the employee got ahold of Wiley, the suspect pulled away and pushed him, causing him to fall and injure his knuckles, according to the police report.

The suspect then ran through the parking lot and entered a Cadillac that had a temp tag in the window, the employee told police.

The employee took pictures showing Wiley entering the driver’s seat as well as the vehicle’s license plate.

Another police officer spotted Wiley’s vehicle a few blocks away and detained the suspect. The employee also confirmed that authorities caught the right guy.

Without questioning, Wiley told police, “Man, I didn’t take no ring or anything from that store. I had to leave [the] store in a hurry as my girls was leaving me so I dropped the ring on the counter and took [off]. I don’t need their jewelry, I got mine. That guy tried to say I took it but I got nothing.”

After arriving at the Thurston County Jail, authorities noticed Wiley “messing around” with his socks, pant leg, and right shoe.

A corrections officer later obtained a ring from the suspect that was confirmed to be the one taken from the retail store. The jewelry was returned to the employee.

The vehicle used by Wiley, meanwhile, was impounded and will be released once authorities have contacted the registered owner.

Wiley was booked for second-degree robbery.