LYNDEN, Wash. — Alfredo Mendez Guzman, age 23, was arrested November 8, 2026, by the Lynden Police Department (LPD) on suspicion of 1st-degree robbery, 2nd-degree robbery, 2nd-degree assault, 4th-degree assault and 2nd-degree malicious mischief according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Whatcom County Superior Court.
According to the affidavit, LPD officers were dispatched at about 5:55pm on November 8, 2026, to a reported robbery in progress at a restaurant and bar in the 8800 block of Bender Rd in Lynden. Dispatchers at What-COMM 911 advised responding units that a suspect had entered the business, demanded money, taken cash from the register and fled toward a nearby gas station.
A Washington State Patrol trooper located Mendez Guzman running west in the 700 block of E Badger Road and detained him in a parking lot west of the restaurant, according to the affidavit. Following a field show-up where an employee identified Mendez Guzman as a former employee and the suspect, an LPD officer arrested him at about 6:15pm and located $85 in his pocket during a search.
According to the affidavit, in-store video surveillance and witness statements indicated Mendez Guzman entered the business around 5:50pm wearing a black mask and black beanie cap. He approached an employee behind the cashier’s desk and appeared to be using his cell phone as a translator to demand money.
Mendez Guzman then entered the kitchen and punched, pushed and choked an employee while yelling for money, according to the affidavit. The employee reported losing consciousness during a rear chokehold. Mendez Guzman subsequently exited the kitchen, pushed and took the cashier’s cell phone and re-entered the kitchen, where money was later reported missing from the employee’s wallet. According to the affidavit, Mendez Guzman returned to the front counter, demanded the cashier open the register and removed cash from the register. The cashier’s cell phone was later located in the kitchen with a shattered screen.
The Lynden Fire Department personnel transported the employee to PeaceHealth St Joseph Medical Center for treatment of head and face lacerations and bruising, according to the affidavit.
On November 9, 2026, Mendez Guzman made a preliminary appearance in Whatcom County Superior Court. According to initial arraignment minutes, the court found probable cause and granted an order to surrender weapons. A pre-trial no-contact order protecting both employees was issued. Bail was set by the court at $150,000.
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