Gourmet Latte has state-of-the-art surveillance cameras monitoring its drive-up espresso stand just north of Ballard.

Inside, the baristas have pepper spray and access to special "panic" buttons to alert the police. "I don't know what else we can do," said Leah Thornton, manager.

But none of that prevented a masked robber from pointing a gun at a barista late Thursday inside the 10-foot-by-12-foot stand. The thief made off with an undisclosed amount of cash and prompted outrage from customers and neighbors.

The heist marks the sixth robbery in nearly six years at the stand in the 8700 block of Holman Road Northwest. The stand opened in 2000.

"It's discouraging because we have all this security," said Brandi Benoit, a barista. "We do the best we can but we keep getting hit."

Seattle police detectives were investigating Friday, although police had not identified a suspect, spokesman Jeff Kappel said.

"They're looking into every possibility right now," Kappel said. "There's a possibility he's hit other places, and obviously we're investigating that.

"This is pretty bold because he walks up to something, that to some degree, is in the open. It is surrounded by a parking lot. There is an audacity to his crime," he said.

The stand's security cameras filmed the robbery, including the barista crouching on the floor as she called for help.

The robber approached the stand's eastern window around 5:45 p.m. and tapped loudly on the glass, Thornton said.

One barista had just left to use the washroom, leaving only one employee there.

"He was yelling at her to open the window," Thornton recalled. "He used swear words. He yelled, 'Give me all your money.' "

He also started counting, saying the barista had two seconds to give him the money.

Before he demanded money from the register, he cleaned out a tip jar and thought more money was kept under the till, Thornton said. He escaped toward North 90th Street.

Customers were so upset by the robbery Friday that a 29-year-old man, a longtime patron, offered $1,000 from his family in reward money. He encouraged anyone with information to call police.

He compared the baristas to his second family. "If there's a long line of cars, they have my drink ready," he said in a telephone interview. "That's why I'm doing what I'm doing. My family and I aren't going to stand for it."

As cars and trucks waited for coffee at the stand, other customers were more blunt.

"I'd like someone to come up behind him and clonk him on his head," said Kevin McCoy, a walk-up customer.

"These guys work hard for their money."

McCoy believes one problem is that a thief can watch the espresso stand easily because it sits in the middle of a parking lot. "They're sitting ducks," he said.

Last year in Auburn, a 32-year-old bandit committed seven coffee stand robberies, including one business twice, before his mother turned him in.

There is no evidence to suggest that drive-through espresso stands are more likely to be targeted than any other business, said Kappel, the police spokesman.

"With common sense, you'd think they'd be a worse target because you have to cover a lot of open ground to get away. If you use your vehicle, then your vehicle can get made big time," he said.

ESPRESSO STAND ROBBERIES

Here are the other times someone has either robbed or tried to rob Gourmet Latte in the 8700 block of Holman Road Northwest:

2006: A man drove up, told a barista he had a gun and was going to shoot her. The barista yelled to a customer, "He's trying to rob me!" The man was caught.

2003: A man walked through the back door and told the baristas to get on the ground. He said he had a gun.

2002: A man pulled a knife on a barista and took money.

2001: A man used the back door to enter and take money. A car was waiting for him.

2000: A man entered through the back door and apparently had a gun. He left with cash.

Source: Leah Thornton, Gourmet Latte manager

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