EVERETT—Beloved Hispanic grocery store, Los Gavilanes, will host its third annual Cafecito y Pan Dulce con tu Policia event on October 8 outside of their storefront on Casino Road in Everett.
The purpose of the event, according to Don Felipe, the grocery store’s owner, is to gather the community together for an opportunity to enjoy the store’s signature sweet bread (pan dulce), coffee (Cafecito) and meet with Everett Police Department officers (Policia) — during a time when many members of the Hispanic and Latino community may be distrusting of law enforcement due to federal ICE raids.
“We understand the fear. ICE is a federal government and yes, unfortunately they overstep a lot of the times. We understand the fear but the police officers, the fire departments, the sheriff, are here to protect us. They don’t care about your status they just want you to be safe. They are your friends and they will try their best to help you,” said Felipe. “Don’t be afraid to call if you’re in an emergency.”
Former Everett Police Chief John DeRousse told the Lynnwood Times that under the Keep Washington Working Act, state law prohibits local law enforcement—e.g. Everett Police— from providing local aid to federal officials to enforce immigration law.
“The bottom line is, basic immigration enforcement is not the job of local law enforcement,” said Chief DeRousse. “Now, there might be people that are in this country outside of immigration law that are committing criminal acts against other people. Those people need to be deported and nobody in our immigrant community wants those people around anyway because that’s dangerous and unsafe for them; that’s important for us to get involved in that. But basic immigration enforcement is not our job. It’s against state law. It’s been against policy for years, but not everybody knows that.”
The event will take place from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. and will have several tables setup outside of the storefront where guests can enjoy free pan dulce, coffee, and chat with local law enforcement officers (some of which speak Spanish). Everett Police Chief Robert Goetz is also expected to share some remarks.
According to Don Felipe, the biggest takeaway from last years’ event, which took place on May 2, 2025, was that many attendees realized that local law enforcement officers didn’t care about their immigration status, they just cared about protecting their safety.
“The word of mouth really helped out a lot,” Felipe told the Lynnwood Times.
Approximately 50-60 people attended last year, and about 15 Everett PD Officers, including Everett Police Chief John DeRousse. This year the grocery store is expecting a similar turnout.
Felipe said he eventually wants to expand the event to include other law enforcement agencies, such as the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office and fire departments.
“The idea is to get the word out that they are here to protect us, and they are not ICE and they don’t care about your status,” said Felipe.
Since 2006, Los Gavilanes, as it is commonly called, has been providing marinated meats, fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, in-house pastries and breads, and authentic Mexican and South American products to residents in South County. The store, along with El Pollo Rico, were the original tenants in the Casino Square Plaza nestled in the heavily Latin American populated district of Everett.
Back in 2023 former Everett Police Chief DeRousse and Detective Anna Faye reached out to Felipe with the idea of hosting a community event where they could reach the Hispanic and Latino community in a way where they felt safe.
Felipe was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and immigrated to the Vancouver, Washington to pursue a career on construction.
25 years ago, he helped do a job where he built a storefront for a customer, who, upon completion of the project, offered a job to Felipe as a manager running his new store. At that time Felipe’s allergies were growing increasingly worse and he decided to switch careers.
However, Felipe quickly realized that having a boss was not for him. He began looking for retail locations of his own, stumbling upon his current location on 209 East Casino Road in Everett.
He opened Los Gavilanes (which means “the Hawks”) in 2006, beginning with a modest selection. Felipe named his store after the 1956 Mexican Western/Comedy film which, inspired by the classic Robin Hood tale, was about two brothers who steal from the rich and help feed the poor.
“We do not steal from the rich, but we do feed the community,” Felipe joked.
To promote his newly opened business, Felipe offered a special where if customers ate his signature pan dulce in the store it would be free.
“Now we can’t get rid of it,” he said. “People know. They come, they eat their bread and if they finish it – it’s free.”
The pan dulce is baked in house. Los Gavilanes also makes all its signature salsas in house, as well as its carnitas.
Separate to this, what sets Los Gavilanes aside from other Hispanic/Latino grocers in the area is the service they provide.
“We understand situations get hard so we try to work with people so that they’re able to afford the food and we try to give the best service we can,” said Felipe.
Customers can expect to find meats, produce, dairy, eggs, breads, and hard to find Latino/Hispanic products from various Central and South American countries.
The grocery store has now grown to 45 employees.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
