Man pulls knife while robbing P.J.’s Market

A 24-year-old South Kitsap man was arrested early Monday morning for allegedly breaking into P.J.’s Market and pulling a knife on the owner, who confronted him.

According to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office report, the incident began shortly after midnight, Jan. 23, when the owner of the small market at the corner of Mile Hill Drive and Woods Road discovered the suspect, Jeremy Bresette, throwing the cash register onto the floor after attempting to open it with a knife.

The victim said Bresette held out the knife in an aggressive manner and made threatening statements, then ran out the front door of the store, got on his bicycle and rode away.

The victim then called 911, and based on her description of the suspect, a deputy soon located him nearby on California Avenue. But when he saw the officer, the suspect reportedly abandoned his bicycle and disappeared over a nearby fence.

Officers then began tracking the suspect with the help of the Bremerton Police Department’s canine officer and located the suspect hiding inside a boat parked at a home on East Patricia Street.

When placed under arrest and questioned by deputies, the suspect originally claimed that he had been riding around with his friend, and it was his friend who broke into the store.

When the victim later identified him as the burglar, however, he admitted he had made a “bad decision” and had broken into the store.

He said that he had pulled out a knife when confronted in the store, but that he never intended on hurting anyone and that he was just trying to get away. He added that he already had two felony convictions and that he would “work for the owners of P.J.’s Market for the rest of (his) life if he didn’t have to go to jail.”

He was then transported to Kitsap County Jail and booked for first-degree robbery, and for possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. His bail was originally set at $510,000.

At his arraignment in Kitsap County Superior Court Monday, his bail was lowered to $20,000.

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