Sheriff’s Office: Vancouver woman arrested after robbery, pursuit and SWAT standoff

A Vancouver woman was arrested Sunday night after she allegedly robbed a shopper at the Westfield Vancouver mall and then sent police on a pursuit.

Crystal Lynn Schweizerhoff, 27, allegedly approached a shopper at the mall, 8700 N.E. Vancouver Mall Drive, about 6:30 p.m. when she told a shopper that she had a gun and was willing to use it as she demanded the shopper’s purse, according to a release from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office said that the female shopper surrendered her purse and the suspect fled the mall in a red Nissan SUV, a witness glimpsing part of the Nissan’s license plate.

A short time later a Vancouver police officer saw the suspect’s vehicle and attempted to pull the car over. The woman fled in the vehicle and patrol units from the sheriff’s office and Vancouver Police Department pursued. At one point, the Nissan collided with a patrol car, according to the release.

Police found the vehicle in a garage at 303 N.E. 107th St. in Hazel Dell, near a shopping center at Hazel Dell Avenue and 99th Street. Officers surrounded the house and used a public address system to ask the subject to come out. When she didn’t, a SWAT team was activated, remaining on scene for about five hours.

Eventually, Schweizerhoff came out of the house and was arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery, two counts of eluding police and one count of a felony level hit and run.

She was booked into the Clark County Jail about 10:30 p.m. and was being held there Monday night with no bail allowed.

Sgt. Fred Neiman said that he had no reason to believe there will be additional arrests, but the incidents remain under investigation.