Local News

Sammamish teen charged with attacks on woman, girl

A 16-year-old boy was charged today in King County Superior Court with indecent liberties,  communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and burglary in connection with the alleged attacks on a woman and girl last week.

The Seattle Times is not naming the Sammamish teen until a  hearing in which a judge will determine whether he will be prosecuted in adult or juvenile court. He remains in juvenile  detention.

The teen is alleged to have grabbed a 10-year-old girl who was on her way home from school on May 7. Prosecutors said in charging documents that the teen pinned the girl’s arms against her body, asked her a lewd question and grabbed her private areas. The teen let go of the girl after she tried to bite him, yelled, kicked and threatened to call for help, court documents allege.

Several hours later, the teen is alleged to have forcibly grabbed the crotch of a 26-year-old woman who was about to enter her home, court documents allege.

The woman told her neighbor what happened and described her assailant as wearing black shorts, a black shirt and a mask. The neighbor went to look for the suspect and took a picture of the teen, who matched the description and was “acting suspicious” and appeared “out of breath,” charging documents allege.

A police officer recognized the picture and contacted the teen at Eastlake High School. The teen allegedly said that a 10-year-old girl “bumped” into him and that he might have touched her private areas while texting.  The teen also allegedly admitted “bumping into a woman” as he was looking at apartment addresses.

0 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: 10-year-old, Burglary, indecent liberties

Boat fire leads to voluntary suspension of harvests at Whidbey Island shellfish farm

This 128-foot crab boat anchored off Whidbey Island burned and sank Sunday after being engulfed in flames late Saturday night. Officials with the nearby Penn Cover shellfish farm say they suspended harvest to confirm the safety of its products. (Photo by Jennifer Muzzall)

The Associated Press

UPDATE: 2:35 p.m. | WHIDBEY ISLAND — The PennCove Shellfish company has suspended harvests at Whidbey Island while clean-up crews stop a diesel sheen coming from a derelict vessel that burned and sank.

Penn Cove general manager Ian Jefferds says the harvest is suspended Monday to confirm the safety of its products. He says customers are being supplied from company shellfish beds at Quilcene.

State Health Department shellfish growing area manager Bob Woolrich says there’s no evidence of oil at the Whidbey shellfish beds. The state did not shut down operations; the owner did it as a precaution.

Jefferds says the company “dodged a bullet” and expects to soon resume harvests at Penn Cove.

The 128-foot derelict fishing boat caught fire Saturday and sank Sunday.

The state Ecology Department is overseeing the cleanup

Earlier post: The boat sunk around 6 p.m. 100 yards off the shoreline, said command duty officer Eric Cookson of the Coast Guard. Booms have been placed around the site, and salvage divers will go down to the boat tomorrow plug fuel vents and seal fuel tanks. State officials have suspended mussel harvesting in Whidbey Island’s Penn Cove until further notice, as a precaution.

A 128-foot boat anchored off Whidbey Island was still burning Sunday morning, after being totally engulfed in flames late Saturday night. Coast Guard and Island County responders continued to fight the blaze, said Coast Guard Ensign Nathan Clinger. There were no reports of injuries, and no indication anyone was onboard.

The fire was reported at 11:45 p.m. Saturday by a 911 call, Clinger said. The Deep Sea, a  fishing vessel that hasn’t been used in at least seven years, was in Penn Cove, on the island’s east side.

At one point, Island County firefighters stopped pouring water on the vessel, for fear it might sink.

An 87-foot Coast Guard vessel was on hand Sunday, helping to fight the fire, Clinger said. Responders also are standing by in case of fuel or chemical spills.  Officials have talked to the vessel’s owner.

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6 1/2-year sentence for shooting at North Seattle Kmart

A man who shot a North Seattle Kmart store manager during a botched robbery in February was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison.

Matthew Bateman, 21, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree attempted robbery with a firearm enhancement and second-degree assault. Bateman faced a sentencing range of 6 ½ years to just over 7 years in prison when he was sentenced Friday in King County Superior Court.

Police said Bateman was armed with a handgun when he entered the Kmart in the 13200 block of Aurora Avenue North around 9:15 p.m. on Feb. 25 and forced the store manager toward the back of the store to open a safe. There was a struggle and the manager was shot in the torso.

Bateman and the manager then made their way to the front of the store, where a second employee called 911. But by then patrol and SWAT officers were arriving, and they arrested Bateman.

The manager was treated at Harborview Medical Center.

2 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: assault, attempted robbery, King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office

481 pot plants found in Seattle restaurant

Seattle Police load pot plants, in white bags, into a police vehicle after a bust at My Canh restaurant Monday (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times).

The view detectives encountered when they discovered the pot plants. (Seattle Police Department)

Seattle police say the illegal harnessing of  electrical power to support a marijuana grow operation inside a Rainier Valley restaurant led to a small fire this morning.

Police narcotics detectives are investigating at My Canh restaurant, 6021 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., where 481 plants were found in the basement, said Seattle police spokesman Mark Jamieson.

Seattle fire crews were dispatched to the business around 8 a.m. for a report of an electrical fire. Firefighters quickly put out a small fire on the outside of the restaurant before going inside to see if the fire had spread, said fire department spokesman Kyle Moore. Once inside, firefighters found an empty restaurant on one floor and the grow operation in the basement, Moore said.

The building owner told fire investigators he had been leasing the space out and didn’t know about the drug operation, Moore said.

Jamieson said the fire was caused by “electrical power that was  illegally diverted.”

16 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: Columbia City, marijuana, Seattle Police

Newman Lake homeowner shoots intruder

The Associated Press

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McGinn says DOJ changes to police force would cost $41M a year

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said the changes sought by the Department of Justice to the Seattle police force would cost the city $41 million a year, a number he called “frankly, shocking.”

Speaking on KUOW this morning, the mayor said the potential number of new officers and the amount of training the DOJ is seeking under a proposed consent decree would mean deep cuts to other city programs including mental health and substance abuse treatment, which he said would compromise public safety. The city is facing a $30 million budget shortfall for 2013.

“We are prepared to spend money … but not in a way that compromises public safety,” McGinn said on his monthly radio show appearance.

The mayor also said the degree of oversight being sought by the DOJ would mean getting permission from an outside monitor to change tactics in a developing situation, hampering his ability to issue immediate orders to the police and the department’s ability to respond.

McGinn’s remarks came in advance of Wednesday’s deadline to respond to the proposed consent decree issued by the DOJ  in response to findings of widespread and routine excessive force and evidence of biased policing. City Attorney Pete Holmes is scheduled to brief the City Council this morning in executive session over the ongoing negotiations with the DOJ.

The specifics of the consent decree and the negotiations with the DOJ are supposed to be secret, but some details have leaked out to the press in the past week. McGinn said that in talking about the city’s position he wanted to set the record straight.

McGinn said the sticking points between the city and the DOJ are not the monitoring or the oversight, but rather the substance of the DOJ proposal. He said the city will propose a court order and a monitor, but will not agree to conditions that limit its ability to respond to developing events such as violent protests, or that would seriously impact its budget.

18 comments | More in General news, Government, Politics, The Blotter | Topics: Department of Justice, DOJ, mayor

Three arrested in violent Woodinville robbery this morning

Three men who authorities say broke into a Woodinville home this morning and attacked two residents with baseball bats and guns have been arrested in Monroe.

King County deputies were called to a condominium in the 12700 block of Northeast 170th Place at 2:54 a.m. on a report of a robbery, said sheriff’s Sgt. Rodney Chinnick. Two people in the home told deputies they were struck in the head with a baseball bat; they were not hospitalized.

The three suspects, described as men in their 20s from Sultan, took electronics, cash and drugs from the home, Chinnick said. Deputies believe that at least one of the victims knew the suspects.

“How or what the nature of the relationship is, is being investigated,” Chinnick said.

It’s unclear how the suspects were tracked to Monroe. The suspects were booked into the King County Jail for investigation of robbery.

2 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: home-invasion robbery, King County Sheriff's Office, Woodinville

Husband of slain ranger leaving Mount Rainier Park

The Associated Press

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Everett city councilman dies in rafting accident

Everett City Councilman Drew Nielsen died Saturday in a rafting accident on the Green River.

“We’ve all lost a real, good friend and colleague,” fellow councilman Paul Roberts said today.

The Everett Herald reported that Nielsen, 61, was rafting near Black Diamond with his wife, Kim, and several friends. The raft flipped. Nielsen’s wife was able to escape, but he was not.

Roberts said Nielsen was an avid rafter, and was very safety-conscious. “He was well-equipped and took it very seriously,” Roberts said. “He was not a person that would take unnecessary risks.”

Nielsen was re-elected to his third term on the council last year, Roberts said. He was an attorney who specialized in real estate law.

He was a passionate advocate for open government and public access to shorelines, Roberts said. “Because of his real-estate background, he brought a great set of skills to the work of the community. He was a brilliant attorney.”

1 comments | More in General news, The Blotter | Topics: Black Diamond, Drew Nielsen, Everett City Council

Fire damages house in northeast Seattle

A dryer fire caused extensive damage to a home in the Matthews Beach neighborhood of Seattle this morning. No one was injured.

Firefighters got a report of the fire at 8 a.m. in the 10300 block of 38th Avenue Northeast. By the time they arrived, flames were coming out of the front door and back side of the house, said Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore.

The homeowner, who got out of the house along with his girlfriend, told firefighters it was a dryer fire and that he had tried unsuccessfully to put it out with a blanket, Moore said. No one else lives in the house.

The blaze took about 45 minutes to extinguish.

Damages were estimated at $150,000 to the structure and $75,000 to the contents, Moore said.

0 comments | More in General news, The Blotter | Topics: House fire, matthews beach