SILVERDALE – Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office detectives served a search warrant at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening at a residence on Sherman Hill Road in North Kitsap county where they took a 20-year-old man into custody for an armed robbery that occurred in Silverdale Tuesday night.

Richard Earl “EJ” Kirkland, 20, who has a Poulsbo address, was booked into the Kitsap County jail for first-degree robbery. Bail was set at $250,000.

At 7:25 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, sheriff’s deputies responded to Catherine’s Plus Sizes on Silverdale Way for a reported armed robbery involving a handgun. The suspect had entered the store and pointed a gun at the assistant manager and demanded she give him all the cash from the register. The suspect fled the store on foot with more than $200 in cash. He was described as a 18- to 23-year-old caucasian or Hispanic male wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants, black gloves and sunglasses.

Deputies arrived on scene minutes later and began a search of the area with a K-9 unit, but the suspect was not found.

At about 8:20 p.m., a witness called 911 to report that he had been in a vehicle with the armed robbery suspect.

This witness told deputies that he and a friend had picked up the friend’s nephew earlier in the evening at All Star Lanes bowling alley in Silverdale. The nephew described to them a conversation he’d had with a person named “EJ,” later identified as Kirkland, at the McDonald’s restaurant where Kirkland told him he was planning to “rob Macy’s” at the mall and asked him if he “wanted to make some money.”

Kirkland showed the nephew a black handgun that he pulled from his waistband. The nephew told Kirkland that he was “stupid” and declined to participate. The witness described Kirkland as wearing the same clothing as the robbery victim described the suspect as wearing.

These witnesses came into contact with Kirkland later in the evening, shortly after the robbery, at Wendy’s restaurant and overheard him talking about doing a “lick” – a slang term for robbery. EJ had changed clothes from what he was wearing earlier and was seen to have a large amount of money in his pocket.

After additional investigation, sheriff’s detectives applied for a search warrant the next day and arrested Kirkland Wednesday night. His first court appearance is set for Thursday in Kitsap County District Court.