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Archive for the ‘WASHINGTON’ Category
Snoqualmie Washington Juvenile Prison Staff Member Robert Fox Arrested, Charged With Having Sex With A Female Inmate
July 3rd, 2008
SNOQUALMIE, WASHINGTON - A staff member at a Snoqualmie juvenile prison who is accused of having sex with a female inmate has been charged with custodial sexual misconduct.
Robert Fox, who worked as an intermittent staff member at Echo Glen Children’s Center, faces up to a year in jail if convicted of the felony, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. Fox, 38, will be arraigned on July 10.
The 19-year-old inmate told investigators that Fox came into her room on May 6 and had sex with her, according to court charging papers filed late last week. The girl is in prison for burglary, theft and forgery.
Franklin County Washington Judge Cameron Mitchell Denies Man Access To Public Records
July 3rd, 2008
FRANKLIN COUNTY, WASHINGTON - A Franklin County judge agreed this week that the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and jail don’t have to give any more records to a convicted arsonist serving time in Aberdeen.
Judge Cameron Mitchell said there was no legitimate purpose behind the 39 public-records requests Allan W. Parmelee filed with the Sheriff’s Office asking for jail employees’ photos, training records, performance evaluations, complaints and work phone numbers, among other information.
Mitchell on Monday granted a permanent injunction, which stops Parmelee from requesting this information from either the Sheriff’s Office or the jail.
But it wouldn’t stop him from submitting public-records requests to other Franklin County departments, said Ryan Verhulp, the county’s chief civil deputy prosecutor.
Parmelee, who has never been a Franklin County inmate, has blanketed agencies across the state with hundreds of public-records requests.
Read MoreSeattle Washington City Council Urged To Step Up Police Scrutiny
July 3rd, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - A Seattle City Council panel on police accountability on Tuesday called for more transparency of the disciplinary process, with one member saying there is a systemic effort to thwart public scrutiny of how the department polices itself.
Panel members urged the council to strengthen the civilian-review board that oversees the Office of Professional Accountability (OPA) in several of its 23 total recommendations. The report was presented to the council Tuesday.
One of the panel members, University of Washington professor Eric Schnapper, writing in an addendum, found that police oversight in Seattle suffers from a systemic effort to thwart public scrutiny.
While pointing out that police misconduct is “happily infrequent,” Schnapper wrote that, “The systematic effort to limit public scrutiny of this issue is both highly creative and too often effective.”
Schnapper chastised those in the department who resist public scrutiny and oversight.
Read MoreNutcase Vancouver Washington Police Officer Roger Evans Not Charged, Back On The Job After Pulling Gun On Butcher Over Seasoned Meat
June 22nd, 2008
VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON - An off-duty Vancouver police officer pulled his gun on his butcher but he did not lose his job, authorities said.
Now that officer is back on the beat - no charges filed - and no suspension recommended. But the butcher said it shows Vancouver Police are only interested in covering for one of their own.
NewsChannel 8 obtained the 411-page internal report on the incident, which happened last December at Top Choice Meats on Fourth Plain in Vancouver. The report details how officer Roger Evans pulled his gun, and it sheds new light on what butcher Mike Brannan called an effort to downplay the whole incident.
In an interview with NewsChannel 8 Brannan said he’s had, “Some pretty sleepless nights thinking about that.”
Read MoreHero Sees Warning Fliers, Welcomes Child Sex Offender Into Her Cottonwood Washington Neighborhood - With A Baseball Bat! - Sex Offender Arrested For Failing To Register Proper Address
June 19th, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - On the day that fliers announced a registered sex offender had moved into a Puyallup neighborhood, a woman welcomed him with an aluminum baseball bat.
The 7-foot-3 man was beaten so badly, medics transported him to a hospital.
“I kept swingin’ and swingin’ and swingin,” court documents say Tammy Gibson told police, who arrested her in Cottonwood Mobile Home Park.
Gibson has been charged with second-degree assault and felony harassment.
Gibson went to the home where the man, William Baldwin, is living, knocked on the door and asked for him. Then she accused him of molesting her children and beat him with the bat, according to court documents.
Gibson has a criminal history dating back more than a decade.
Read MoreSuspended Napavine Washington Pattigate Police Chief Shelby Clements Less Than Believable In His Recent Statements
June 15th, 2008
NAPAVINE, WASHINGTON - On Wednesday, The Chronicle reported that Napavine Police Chief Shelby Clements has been placed on paid leave for undisclosed reasons by Mayor Nick Bozarth.
Bozarth did reveal that he had asked for two separate investigations by the city’s insurance provider and also by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office for possible criminal wrongdoing by Clements.
Bozarth declined to reveal the nature of the allegations, other than to say he ran them by a consensus of his city council before placing Clements on leave.
“To protect the investigation, I’m going to withhold that to be as fair as possible,” Bozarth said. Although we always prefer more information over less, and believe that government needs to work as transparent as possible, we find it understandable for Bozarth to withhold the possible wrongdoing by Clements from the public at this time. We will press for the information certainly if either investigation uncovers wrongdoing, and would also want to clear the air with the backstory if it is determined Clements has not done anything untoward.
With Clements on paid leave, and most police having unlisted phone numbers, Chronicle reporter Sharyn L. Decker was relegated to driving down to Clements’ Winlock home to give him the opportunity to defend himself, or at the least explain the situation.
Clements had little comment, according to Decker’s reporting, but did claim he did not know what the allegations against him were. “I don’t know anything,” Clements said.
Read MoreNapavine Washington Mayor Says Pattigate Police Chief Shelby Clements Is Lying, He Knows Exactly Why He Was Suspended
June 13th, 2008
NAPAVINE, WASHINGTON — Napavine Mayor Nick Bozarth said on Thursday he was dismayed to hear the police chief claim he didn’t know what the allegations were against him.
“I wouldn’t put somebody on leave and not tell them why,” Bozarth said. “I told him who made the accusation and what the accusation was.”
Bozarth last Thursday gave Napavine Police Chief Shelby Clements a letter putting him on paid administrative leave during investigations into something the mayor has declined to reveal.
He’s asked for an internal review to be conducted by investigators through the city’s insurance provider, and requested the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office to look into possible criminal ramifications.
Clements on Tuesday told The Chronicle he does not know what the allegations are, but has secured an attorney who advised him not to speak about it.
Bozarth said he didn’t give a timeline or all the details to Clements. Appeared Here
Napavine Washington Pattigate Police Chief Shelby Clements Suspended Amid Two Secret Investigations
June 13th, 2008
NAPAVINE, WASHINGTON - Napavine’s new mayor has put the police chief on administrative leave pending the results of two investigations into something he’s declined to reveal.
“To protect the investigation, I’m going to withhold that to be as fair as possible,” Mayor Nick Bozarth said on Monday evening.
Police Chief Shelby Clements, in a brief interview at his Winlock area home on Tuesday, likewise had little comment. He said he does not know what the allegations are.
“I’ve got an attorney. He said not to speak to anybody, and that hasn’t been hard, because I don’t know anything,” Clements said.
Bozarth, mayor of the town of some 1,400 residents south of Chehalis, said “something” got officially brought to his attention late Wednesday night and he took the action on Thursday. He emphasized the paid leave is not discipline.
He’s asked for an internal investigation to be conducted by the city’s insurance provider and asked the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office to look into possible criminal ramifications, he said.
Bozarth said he did so with the “consensus” of the five-member city council.
Read MoreDrunkard Ferry County Washington Deputy Sheriff Nick Merritt, Fomer Republic Police Chief, Arrested After Attacking And Choking His 16 Year Old Daughter
June 13th, 2008
FERRY COUNTY, WASHINGTON - A Ferry County deputy sheriff and former Republic police chief is under arrest.
Nick Merritt – the police chief for more than six years before leaving a month ago to take a job with the sheriff’s office – was arrested Tuesday on a charge of felony second-degree assault by choking of his 16-year-old daughter, authorities said Thursday. Merritt was also charged with interfering with reporting domestic violence.
The deputy and his wife have two biological children. Three foster kids have been removed from Merritt’s home.
According to a court document, Merritt denied he tried to choke his daughter, but admitted he put his hands on her neck after she referred to him in a profanely derogatory manner. The daughter ran from the family home after the ruckus, and stayed with a relative. Merritt slept near a tree in the yard.
Read MorePattigate Police Chief Shelby Clements Again Under Scrutiny - Napavine Washington Deserves Better Leadership
June 13th, 2008
NAPAVINE, WASHINGTON - Once again, Napavine’s Chief of Police Shelby Clements is in the news for less-than desirable reasons.
Back in November 2006 Shelby and his senior-most officer, Noel Shields, were suspended for their roles in what was deemed “Pattigate.” Along with many other law enforcement officers, Shelby was caught sending and receiving sexually charged, inappropriate text messages with Patti Prouty, who was a high-level county employee in charge of, among many duties, placing laptops in police squad cars across the county.
Clements’ text to Prouty of “so are ya nakie” while he was on duty became a popular catch-phrase during the embarrassing scandal, including the words being emblazoned across the front of T-shirts produced by anonymous Napavine residents. Prouty responded with “top on no lower.” It was not our proudest moment here in Lewis County.
Chief Clements admitted to a number of “off color” conversations with Prouty.
At the time of the suspensions of Shields and Clements, The Chronicle’s Editorial Board asked for harsher penalties than were handed down by then-Mayor Rob McNelly. We contrasted McNelly’s nonchalant attitude toward his police chief with Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield, who was outraged over the actions of two of his employees for their role in Pattigate.
We wrote during those dark days, “As it stands, we believe Napavine would be better served by a new police chief who can be trusted to be moral, ethical and clear thinking.”
Read MoreNapavine Washington’s New Mayor Nick Bozarth Hides Details Of Dolphin Kissing (See Posts) Police Chief Shelby Clements Suspension
June 12th, 2008
NAPAVINE, WASHINGTON - Napavine’s new mayor has put the police chief on administrative leave pending the results of two investigations into something he’s declined to reveal.
[From an email to BCN: "you may remember this guy using the department computers for his sexy talk. You had a VERY GOOD posting last time. It made this whole state cringe. Well he is on leave and CLAIMS HE DOES NOT KNOW WHY.. LOL.."
"
"BELOW IS THE STORY. ALSO IF YOU WANT TO POST THE DEPT PHONE NUMBER. ITS 360-262-9888 MAYBE people will call a bunch wondering why they are retaining such a liability. There is a picture of the 22 year old Mayor in the story too.. i am sure that is really burning this chief up."]
“To protect the investigation, I’m going to withhold that to be as fair as possible,” Mayor Nick Bozarth said on Monday evening.
Police Chief Shelby Clements, in a brief interview at his Winlock area home on Tuesday, likewise had little comment. He said he does not know what the allegations are.
Read MoreMicrosoft Vista Sucks - So Nobody Steals It
June 10th, 2008
WASHINGTON - Microsoft sued a bunch of resellers for flogging copies of software they didn’t pay it for, the Vole said Tuesday.
The company said it filed lawsuits against 21 resellers in 14 states. The lawsuits allege that defendants sold copies of Windows XP and Microsoft Office that didn’t have unique product keys.
Some unauthorised copies were caught by the company’s “Genuine Advantage” online copy authentication schemes. Other software licencing violations were said to have been reported to the Vole’s snitch line.
Most of the allegedly stolen copies were consumer versions. Only two of the lawsuits claimed that corporate versions of software products were nicked.
None of the resellers were accused of having stolen copies of Windows Vista.
Crazed Veteran Lacey Washington Police Officer David Miller Arrests News Photographer At Duplex Fire
June 9th, 2008
LACEY, WASHINGTON - Olympian photographer Tony Overman was arrested Friday while taking photos at the scene of a duplex fire in Lacey.
Overman, 45, was arrested on suspicion of simple assault of a Lacey police detective, a misdemeanor, and will be arraigned in district court June 19, said Lacey police spokesman John Suessman.
Overman said that while he was taking photos, an officer put up a police tape boundary behind him. Overman said that when Lacey detective David Miller told him to move outside the boundary, he complied.
He said that as he walked away, he overheard the detective tell another officer that Overman should be arrested immediately if he crossed the police line.
Overman said he turned around and approached the detective.
“I just wanted to understand why he was singling me out when I had complied with everything he asked me to do,” Overman said Saturday.
Read MoreJury Hands State A Mistrial In Case Of Man Who Stormed Seattle Washington Jewish Center - Shot 6 Women And Killing 1
June 5th, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of a man who stormed into a Jewish center two years ago and shot six women, killing one, as he ranted against Israel and the Iraq war.
art.haq.ap.jpg
Naveed Haq stormed into a Jewish center two years ago and shot six women, killing one.
Jurors had indicated in questions posed to the judge that they were hopelessly deadlocked and struggling to determine whether Naveed Haq, 32, was not guilty by reason of insanity, as he claimed.
King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas ended the jury’s deliberations in their eighth day.
The jurors reached a partial verdict on only one of the 15 counts against Haq, finding him not guilty of attempted first-degree murder of one of the women. But they couldn’t agree on the lesser charge of attempted second-degree murder or any of the other 14 charges, which included murder. Video Watch a report on the mistrial »
Read MoreKing County Washington Deputy Sheriff Brian Bonnar Indicted By Federal Grand Jury After Brutally Beating Woman And Purjury For Lying About It
June 4th, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - A King County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with a federal civil rights violation and perjury.
According to a federal indictment handed up Wednesday in Seattle, Deputy Brian Bonnar assaulted a handcuffed woman in 2005, kneeing her and slamming her head against a cruiser, and then lied about it when questioned before a grand jury earlier this year.
The woman, Irene Damon, was arrested after a car chase that involved the ramming of a patrol car. Fellow deputies reported that Bonnar beat her.
Bonnar’s attorneys did not immediately return a message left after business hours, but have said previously he used appropriate force.
Victim Awarded $269K After Being Attacked And Wrongly Arrested By Dumbass Seattle Washington Police Officer Jacob Briskey
May 25th, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - A federal jury in Seattle has awarded $269,000 to a young volunteer at the Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club who was knocked to the ground and arrested by a Seattle police officer, finding the officer wrongly arrested Romelle Bradford and violated his civil rights.
The jury verdict Monday is the first against a Seattle police officer in an excessive-force case in a decade, according to city officials, although the city has settled several claims for substantial figures in recent months.
Bradford’s injuries were not serious, although his attorneys argued that he has suffered an “unseen injury” because his arrest will remain in the FBI computer indefinitely, and he’ll have to answer “yes” on forms that ask if he’s ever been arrested.
The 22-year-old Bradford — who overcame a troubled childhood to be named 2003 King County and Washington state youth of the year — said the hurt is real.
Read MoreSuspended Gig Harbor Washington Police Officer Sgt. Matthew R. Dougil Pleads Not Guilty To Perjury And False Statement To Public Official
May 24th, 2008
TACOMA, WASHINGTON - A Pierce County judge released a Gig Harbor police sergeant on his own recognizance today after the officer pleaded not guilty to perjury and making a false statement to a public official.
Judge Katherine Stolz ordered 42-year-old Matthew R. Dougil to have no contact with anyone at the Gig Harbor Police Department and not to carry a gun while the case against him is pending.
Last week, prosecutors charged Dougil with one count each of first-degree perjury, second-degree perjury and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant.
Prosecutors say the 11-year veteran of the Gig Harbor force lied in police reports he filed as part of a drug investigation that resulted in two people being convicted.
Gig Harbor police Chief Mike Davis placed Dougil on paid leave in February after a State Patrol detective finished his investigation. Appeared Here
Five King County Washington Jail Officers Suspended For Pornography
May 23rd, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON — Five officers at the King County Jail in downtown Seattle have recently been suspended for passing pornographic images, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.
The officers aren’t being named because they haven’t been charged with a crime, but they were each suspended for three days.
Dozens of photos, videos and cartoons were released to KIRO 7 after we filed a Public Disclosure Request. Most of the images are too pornographic for television, but all were passed, via county e-mail by five jail officers at the downtown Seattle facility.
All in violation of the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention’s Employee conduct code, which dictates that county e-mail and computers should only be used for department business.
The command staff at the jail first became aware of what it calls the “inappropriate and sexually suggestive e-mails” late last summer.
Read MoreGig Harbor Washington Police Officer Sgt. Matthew Dougil Arrested, Suspended, Charged With Perjury
May 14th, 2008
TACOMA, WASHINGTON - Pierce County prosecutors have charged a Gig Harbor police sergeant with perjury.
Matthew Dougil is accused of lying in reports he filed as part of a drug investigation that led to two convictions.
He’ll answer the charge next week in court in Tacoma. He’s on paid leave.
Prosecutors have notified people charged in the 2006 drug investigation about the allegations against the officer.
Gig Harbor Police Chief Mike Davis says the allegations came to light in December and the case was investigated by the State Patrol.
It involves reports about informants Dougil supervised while investigating a group of men suspected of selling marijuana from their apartment.
Appeared Here
Ocean Shores Washington Police Officer Jeffrey Elmore Beat His Daughter With Belt - Bruises Visible For Nearly A Month - Jury Says Its Okay
May 6th, 2008
ABERDEEN, WASHINGTON — An Ocean Shores police officer has been acquitted of fourth-degree assault involving his 17-year-old daughter.
An Aberdeen Municipal Court jury found it was acceptable discipline when Officer Jeffrey Elmore used a belt on the girl. Elmore and his wife clasped hands and fought tears, but his daughter turned away from hugs and was led out of the courtroom sobbing.
The teenager accused Elmore of beating her with a belt in an argument on Nov. 18. The prosecutor, Forest Worgum, says her bruises were visible for nearly a month.
Defense lawyer David L. Mistachkin argued that Elmore was exercising reasonable discretion in parental discipline.
The verdict was reached on April 11. Elmore remained on administrative leave pending completion of an internal investigation.
Appeared Here
Cellphone Companys Are Releasing Data On Customers To Police Without Search Warrants
May 5th, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - The call came in to police just after midnight April 16.
Hours before, a distraught young man had phoned his mother, hinting he wanted to kill himself. When he didn’t meet her as planned, she telephoned Seattle police and reported her son missing.
Because of increasing advances in technology, officers were able to find the missing man’s cellular phone using his wireless network. Two hours after he was reported missing, the man was found alive but unwell lying on his desk and taken to University Hospital for a psychological evaluation.
The night’s incident was one of tens of thousands in which a life may have been saved because of the ability to find someone through a cell phone. But life-or-death missing persons cases remain rare, and locater technologies raise questions about warrantless searches.
Read MoreSeattle Washington Winged Shit-Machines Targeted With Blowguns - PETA Propaganda: “Someone who would do this to an animal is a short step away from doing this to a human being.”
April 30th, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - Someone is impaling pigeons in downtown Seattle with metal darts, and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is putting up $2,000 to help find out who.
Several Seattle residents have called PETA in the past two weeks to report seeing three injured pigeons fluttering around with needlelike projectiles — about 3 to 4 inches long — piercing their heads, said Tori Perry, cruelty case worker for the Norfolk, Virginia-based organization. The birds were spotted in the 1400 block of Third Avenue and at the corner of Third Avenue and Union Street, she added.
The darts were fired from a blow gun, lodging directly behind the birds’ eyes without penetrating their brains, Perry said.
The longer the darts remain, the higher the chance for the injury to get worse and infection to set in, she said. The end result: “a very, very painful death,” Perry said.
Read More9/11 Hysteria: US Border Patrol Agents Target Domestic Ferry Passengers In Washington
April 22nd, 2008
FRIDAY HARBOR, SAN JUAN COUNTY, WASHINGTON — The people of the San Juan Islands tend to be independent sorts, espousing a do-it-yourself, leave-me-be ethos as natural and ever-present as the tide.
But for many of the 17,000 people of this island county, the normal rhythms of small-town life have hit a dissonant chord lately.
A couple of months ago, the U.S. Border Patrol began occasional “spot checks” of every vehicle and passenger arriving in Anacortes off state ferries, the lifeline between these islands and the mainland.
For some here, it seems like a good idea or, at worst, a minor inconvenience. But for a vocal and active faction, the federal agents’ aggressive questioning and demands for identification have spurred outrage.
In the islands’ coffee shops and the editorial pages of the local paper, then in a crowded, heated meeting last month, a number of people have complained that islanders are being unfairly treated and questioned, even though they haven’t left the country and normally wouldn’t be subject to such scrutiny.
Read MoreFormer Seattle Washington Police Officer Det. Deana F. Jarrett Pleads Guilty To Two Counts Of Drunk Driving After Setting State’s Blood Alcohol Level Record At 6 Times State Limit - 0.470
April 18th, 2008
KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - A former Seattle police detective whose blood alcohol reading set a state record has pleaded guilty to two counts of drunken driving.
Fifty-four-year-old Deana F. Jarrett of Woodinville apologized Thursday in King County District Court, asking for mercy and saying she has changed her behavior. She faces up to a year in jail on each count when she is sentenced June 13.
Jarrett was stopped in Redmond on April 10 and 11, 2007. The second time her blood alcohol level registered .47, a record for Washington state and nearly six times the .08 legal threshold.
Jarrett was a Seattle police officer from 1979 to 1998. She left shortly after her lawsuit claiming sexual harassment and defamation was dismissed. At the time of her arrest she was working for the Transportation Security Administration at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Man Acquitted Of Bogus Charge Of Threatening To Kill Kelso Washington Police
April 16th, 2008
KELSO, WASHINGTON - The man Kelso police said called their department and threatened to kill them last summer was acquitted Friday after a three-day trial.
Richard J. Dowling Jr., 28, was charged with felony harassment — threat to kill. Friday, jurors found him not guilty in Cowlitz County Superior Court.
Both sides in the trial agreed that on June 7, Dowling called the Kelso Police Department’s main number and told the receptionist he was upset about a fatal June 5 SWAT team shooting in Castle Rock. A Kelso officer on the SWAT team fired the shot, which later was ruled justified.
What Dowling said next is in dispute.
Police and prosecutors say Dowling told the receptionist he was going get to a bulletproof vest and “kill myself a cop.”
Read MoreSnohomish County Washington Deputy Sheriff Under Investigation After Chasing Teen, Hitting Car, And Teens Death In Accident That Followed
April 16th, 2008
SNOHOMISH, WASHINGTON — When a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy was chasing a Marysville teenager near Snohomish, he radioed in that he was about to try to bump the back of the teen’s car in an attempt to end the pursuit.
Police are still investigating whether the deputy connected with the teen’s car or whether snow or something else can explain why Randy Privrasky’s car left the road, skidded down a steep ravine and crashed into a tree.
The 18-year-old Marysville-Pilchuck High School senior died later that night.
The deputy had attempted to stop Privrasky using a pursuit immobilization technique, or PIT maneuver, an increasingly common police practice nationwide.
The teenager’s March 28 death may be the first fatality associated with a PIT maneuver in Washington, and one of only a handful in the United States.
Fatalities associated with the PIT maneuver are extremely rare, experts said.
Read MoreTrucker Not Charged After Portland Oregon Police Officer Mark “Z-Man” Zylawy Wanders Onto Interstate And Ends Up Road Pizza
April 16th, 2008
PORTLAND, OREGON - Portland police Officer Mark “Z-Man” Zylawy was in the roadway of Interstate 5 when he was struck and killed Jan. 27, according to a Washington State Patrol investigation.
Zylawy, who lived near Ridgefield, was on his way to work when his truck apparently broke down.
Police found his vehicle parked on the freeway’s right shoulder with its hood up.
Zylawy was 40.
According to the investigation, witnesses said Lawrence Stieben of Portland tried to swerve his tractor-trailer to the left to avoid Zylawy, who was in the right lane near Milepost 8, near the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds. The state patrol and Clark County Office of the Medical Examiner’s investigations determined that Zylawy was running toward the shoulder, where his truck was parked, when he was hit.
A Washington State Toxicology Lab report ruled out alcohol
and drugs as a factor in the accident for either Zylawy or Stieben.
Mountlake Terrace Washington Police Officer David Alaniz Quits, Charged With Stealing $25,000
April 15th, 2008
EVERETT, WASHINGTON — Snohomish County prosecutors say the officer who ran the home monitoring system for the Mountlake Terrace Police Department siphoned off fees and let people off early.
The 36-year-old Marysville man, David Alaniz, was charged Monday in superior court in Everett with misappropriation and falsification of accounts.
He’s accused of keeping part of the $600 monthly fees that people convicted of nonviolent misdemeanors pay for electronic ankle bracelets. He’s also accused of allowing participants to serve fewer days.
A State Patrol investigation last year found 66 people did not complete the program and the city was short $25,000.
Alaniz was put on administrative leave and resigned in March of 2007.
Suspended Snohomish County Washington Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Vincent Linnell To Return To Work After Attacking Man Following Traffic Accident
April 12th, 2008
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, WA - A Snohomish County sheriff’s sergeant charged with assault will return to his patrol position in the coming weeks.
Sgt. Vincent Linnell has been on paid administrative leave from his nearly $74,000-per-year job since Feb. 13, 2007.
Linnell, 42, is accused of choking and shoving a man who allegedly caused a traffic accident that left two police officers injured, according to charging papers filed in King County District Court.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office, which was brought in to handle the case, charged Linnell with fourth-degree assault on March 30.
Snohomish County sheriff John Lovick declined to comment about Linnell on Friday.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said the department is still completing an internal investigation and declined to say if or when Linnell would return to work.
Defense attorney Stephen Garvey said he and King County prosecutors negotiated an agreement and if Linnell completes it within two years the misdemeanor case will be dismissed.
Read MorePolice Ignored Man’s 6 Requests For A Lawyer, King County Washington Judge Tosses Videotaped Police Interview In Shooting
April 11th, 2008
KING COUNTY, WA - A judge has thrown out a videotaped police interview with the man charged in the deadly July 2006 Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle shooting because detectives ignored Naveed Haq’s six requests to talk to a lawyer.
King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas ruled Thursday that the conduct violated Haq’s rights and thus is inadmissible at his trial, set to start Monday.
Under state and federal law, police must stop questioning a suspect immediately if the suspect requests a lawyer.
Prosecutors will be able to tell jurors about gun receipts, computer searches for Jewish organizations and other evidence that police found in Haq’s Kennewick apartment and in his parents’ Pasco home.
Haq, 32, is accused of storming into the Jewish charity, killing one woman and injuring five others. He railed against the Iraq war and Israel during the rampage.
Read MoreWashington State Police Trooper To be Educated After Ripping Down “Education Not Incarceration” Sign
April 6th, 2008
WASHINGTON - A state trooper will be receiving additional training following an altercation with a handful of student protesters Monday on a University District overpass.
Six members of the student chapter of Justice Works, a group advocating reform in the criminal justice system, were holding a large mesh sign on the 45th Street bridge of Interstate 5 when they were approached by the trooper, said Jon Yousling, one of the students organizing the protest.
Protesters had been holding the sign — which read “Education not incarceration” — for more than an hour without disturbance when the trooper arrived. Heated words were exchanged as the trooper demanded the protesters remove the sign, which the State Patrol now acknowledges was displayed within the law.
“We knew what the regulations are,” said Jaime Brown, a junior at the University of Washington. “He was still trying to get us to release the sign.”
Read MoreGranger Washington Police Officer Never Suspended After Sexual Harassment Complaint, Fired After Crashing Patrol Car But Rehired
April 3rd, 2008
GRANGER, WA — A Granger police officer who was accused of sexually harassing a city employee was never suspended or put on-paid leave pending the investigation, confirmed the mayor.
In fact, it wasn’t the accused officer who left his post, it was the alleged victim who felt forced to leave.
But Mayor Ramona Fonseca says the city didn’t sit back when the administrative assistant made the complaint more than a month ago.
“Of course any allegation like that that are made would be investigated,” said Fonseca, but when asked whether he should’ve removed rather than kept on-duty after the allegations surfaced, she replied, “I have no idea how the investigation process went so i can’t answer something if i don’t have access to that information.”
Fonseca could’t explain why because the acting chief handled the investigation and he was out of the office until next week. The employee worked for the police department, and she said she didn’t have access to those personnel files.
Read MoreFormer Walla Walla Washington Police Officer Raymond M. Clayton’s Child Molestation And On Duty Sex Trial Postponed - 15 Year Old Girl Victim In Church Parking Lot
March 28th, 2008
WALLA WALLA, WA - The trial for a former Walla Walla police officer accused of third-degree child molestation is being postponed to June 10.
Raymond M. Clayton had been scheduled to face a jury in Walla Walla County Superior Court starting next Tuesday. But both sides in the case agreed that the proceedings could be reset.
Clayton, 38, is accused of molesting a 15-year-old girl in his patrol vehicle while it was parked outside a church in Walla Walla during the summer of 2002.
He also is charged with official misconduct relating to claims by a woman that she and Clayton engaged in sexual intercourse on multiple occasions — generally at her apartment — while he was on duty. The liaisons allegedly occurred from March 2004 until her arrest on a narcotics charge in April 2006. The charge accuses Clayton of refraining from performing his duty in order to obtain a benefit.
Read MoreFormer Mountlake Terrace Washington Police Employee Arrested, Charged With Embezzling More Than $24,000
March 27th, 2008
MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, WASHINGTON - A former Mountlake Terrace police employee accused of embezzling more than $24,000 during his two years with the department was arrested Wednesday on a charge of misappropriation of funds.
David Alaniz, 36, had been in charge of transporting jail prisoners and the department’s electronic home-monitoring program from February 2005 to April 2007. For much of the past year the State Patrol has been investigating him for stealing about $24,000 from the city, according to Mountlake Terrace police.
Alaniz is being held at the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of 10 counts of misappropriation/falsification of accounts.
Mountlake Terrace Assistant Police Chief Pete Caw declined to comment on the case. He said that Alaniz was the department’s first custody officer.
Read MoreWoman Awarded $79,000 After Attack By Bremerton Washington Police Officer William B. Cook
March 26th, 2008
BREMERTON, WASHINGTON - A woman who sued the city after she was roughed up by a former Bremerton police officer settled the lawsuit for about $79,000, after a jury sided with her but did not award her money for pain and suffering.
Jurors deliberated for about eight hours after the February trial before determining that former Bremerton Police Officer William B. Cook used excessive force when he arrested Melissa Scott on March 23, 2003. Paperwork on the agreement was filed Tuesday.
Although the jury agreed that Cook had acted improperly and awarded money for medical bills and punitive damages, it did not include money for general damages, otherwise known as “pain and suffering,” said the attorney contracted to represent the city, David Horton.
Rather than return to court to argue over general damages, the two sides settled on the $79,000. After court costs and medical bills, the award will be divided among Scott and her attorneys. In most cases the split for attorneys is a third, said Scott’s attorney, Steve Franklin.
Read MoreLawsuit Charges Brewster Washington Police Chief Ron Oules After Attack On Woman Motorist - Bogus Charges Against Woman Don’t Stand Up In Court
March 24th, 2008
SPOKANE, WA - A woman arrested in a violent confrontation with Brewster Police Chief Ron Oules has filed a civil rights and personal injury lawsuit against him and the city.
Alejandra Solis was acquitted by a jury last May after being charged with third-degree assault of an officer.
Oules testified in May 2007 that Solis punched him when he tried to place her under arrest, and that he was arresting her after she repeatedly failed to obey his commands to hang up her cell phone following a traffic stop.
But Solis, 44, denied punching Oules, and said he threw her to the ground after yanking her out of her vehicle.
A probe by the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office concluded in 2006 that no excessive force was used by Oules and Officer Tim Rieb in arresting Solis.
Read MoreFormer Lynnwood Washington Deputy Police Chief Paul Watkins Pleads Guilty After Stealing Cash And Other Evidence For A Slap On The Wirst
March 24th, 2008
LYNNWOOD, WA - A former Lynnwood deputy police chief was sentenced Friday for stealing cash and other evidence.
Flanked by his daughters, Paul Watkins left the federal courthouse after an emotional sentencing hearing.
He will serve 15 months in federal prison, and pay $75,000 in restitution.
The respected 24-year department veteran pleaded guilty to stealing $81,000 from the department’s property room over four years.
In court, Watkins apologized to his family and the citizens of Lynnwood.
His daughters also made emotional appeals on behalf of their father.
Former Veteran Lynnwood Washington Deputy Police Chief Paul Watkins Sentenced To 15 Months In Prison For Stealing Drugs, Guns, And Cash From Department
March 22nd, 2008
LYNNWOOD, WA - The former deputy chief of the Lynnwood Police Department was sentenced this afternoon to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution for stealing cocaine, handguns and thousands of dollars in cash from the department’s evidence room.
Paul Watkins, a 24-year veteran of the department, was also ordered to serve two years of federal probation once he is released from prison. He had earlier pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to one count of theft.
During an emotional sentencing hearing this afternoon in Seattle, a tearful Watkins apologized for the harm he had done to his family, the Lynnwood community and the police department.
“I know what I did was wrong. I’m sorry,” he said.
Watkins’ two daughters also spoke, asking for community service or probation for their father.
Read MoreSeattle Washington Police Twice Bungle Recovery Of Cancer Patient’s Stolen Car, The Second Time Ending With It Being Totaled - Our Tax Dollars At Work
March 8th, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - Erik Schoenleber was riding the bus to class Wednesday morning when, to his surprise, he spotted two men inside his Honda CR-V at the 7-Eleven on Denny Way. The car had been stolen a week earlier.
There was no mistaking it either. Schoenleber’s roof rack had been cushioned with four tennis balls; one remained.
Schoenleber, a 25-year-old community-college student, hopped off the bus and phoned police, keeping an eye on the two men from a nearby bank on Fourth Avenue.
Adrenaline coursed through him. Of all times to have his car stolen. He’d just had surgery the week before to remove a tumor on his skull. And nearly $2,000 worth of tools — Schoenleber studies marine carpentry — were in the car when it disappeared from his Queen Anne apartment complex.
Read MoreBainbridge Island Washington Police Guild Sues To Keep Bad Cop Records Hidden After Investigation Into Police Officer Steve Cain
March 7th, 2008
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASHINGTON - Prompted by inquires from an island resident, the Bainbridge Island Police Guild filed a lawsuit this week to keep documents regarding a police misconduct investigation under wraps.
The suit aims to prevent the city and the Bainbridge Island Police Department from fully disclosing two investigations into Officer Steve Cain’s arrest of island attorney Kim Koenig during a traffic stop in September. Koenig, who was arrested for obstructing an officer and resisting arrest but was never charged, filed complaints alleging that Cain had assaulted and wrongfully cited her. The lawsuit names “John Doe” and “Jane Roe” as the parties in a traffic stop that matches the details of the night Koenig was arrested. The lawsuit states that fictitious names are used to protect the privacy of those involved and that “Jane Roe” was not the individual that made the document request.
Read MoreSeattle Police Chief Creates Ethics Officer - Ethics? Seattle Police? This Must Be A Joke…
March 3rd, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has made sweeping changes to his command staff, in part to strengthen the police accountability system and to improve communication with the community.
The changes include formation of a new Office of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, which will examine complaints against officers to develop training or policies that could prevent them. The office will work closely with the department’s civilian-led Office of Professional Accountability.
The new position was one of 29 recommendations made by the mayor’s Police Accountability and Review Panel, which suggested appointing a high-ranking ethics officer to advise on professional conduct and develop training scenarios that define the ethical dilemmas officers might encounter.
Kerlikowske tapped Homicide Unit Capt. Neil Low, former head of internal affairs, to lead the new office.
Read MoreHomeless Man Who Pissed In Public Tossed In Seattle Washington Jail For Three Months But Never Charged With A Crime - Our Tax Dollars At Work
March 3rd, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - Spending even one night in jail was questionable enough, but an arrest for obstructing a public officer last year landed one homeless Seattle man behind bars for more than three months.
Darrell Arthur Williams hadn’t even been charged with the crime. After a Seattle bicycle cop on “proactive patrol” arrested the 40-year-old black transient for what amounted to interfering with a public urination investigation, Williams was booked into King County Jail for the night.
But the next morning, a city prosecutor who reviewed the officer’s report quickly declined to press charges, citing “interests of justice.” With that, Williams was supposed to be released from jail immediately.
That was Feb. 17, 2007. Instead, Williams remained incarcerated through May 23 — what amounted to a short prison term. He was essentially forgotten behind bars.
Read MoreSeattle Washington Police Target Blacks With “Contempt Of Cop” Charges
February 29th, 2008
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - When Seattle police arrest someone for “obstructing a public officer,” chances are nearly dead even they’re arresting an African-American — in a city that’s predominantly white.
Once arrested, the accused could spend a night in jail, but the odds are relatively favorable — as good as a coin toss — that the prosecutors will drop the case, often as a result of a review the next morning.
In fact, African-Americans are arrested for the