Cops arrest father of girl in robbery video

YAKIMA, Wash. - Police have arrested a father who was wanted for robbing a convenience store at gunpoint with his 9-year-old daughter at his side.

Robert Daniel Webb

Robert Daniel Webb, 42, of Everett, who was being sought for the armed robbery of a mini mart just off I-90 near Ellensburg, Wash., turned himself in Saturday at about 1 p.m., according to Yakima police.

The robbery was captured on surveillance video on Tuesday, and Webb's image has been widely circulated throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The Kittitas County Sheriff's Office obtained a first-degree robbery warrant for Webb's arrest, and authorities have been actively seeking him ever since the robbery.

Raw surveillance video

Webb was almost captured in California the day after the robbery when a friend he was staying with there contacted police.

When officers arrived at that friend's home, Webb let the girl out of the car and sped off, said Fortuna Police Detective Aaron Starcher. Webb managed to get away during a high-speed chase that followed.

Meadow Webb

His daughter, Meadow Webb, was placed into protective custody by police, and then returned to her mother. She was flown home to Seattle on Friday afternoon.

Webb returned to Washington state after escaping from police in California, all the while eluding authorities.

On Saturday, a friend of Webb's convinced him to surrender while he was visiting the friend's house on North 3rd Avenue in Yakima. The friend then called police.

Webb was reluctant to surrender but remained at the home until the police arrived. He submitted to arrest without any resistance, officers said.

Kittitas County Sheriff's deputies questioned Webb in Yakima on Saturday, and he was expected to be booked into Yakima County Jail, Foley said.

Webb would likely be arraigned in Kittitas County where the robbery occurred, he added.

On the video that captured Tuesday's robbery, the robber told the clerk at an AM-PM minimart he had lost his job and needed money for his daughter. Store video shows the girl in a pink coat watching as the man beside her pulls a gun and takes about $200.

The little girl's mother said she's just happy to have her home safe and sound.

"I'm glad she's home," Susan Webb said as she picked up her daughter at Sea-Tac airport on Friday. "She's safe and we just need to go home and rest."

Meadow seemed happy to be back, but did not want to talk about her four-day ordeal.

"I don't feel like it. It makes me sad," she said.