EVERETT — Brian Warnock terrorized an Everett couple and their 6-year-old grandson when he broke into their home in March.
He wore gloves and a shirt wrapped around his face. Warnock, 30, demanded money and waved around a crowbar. He herded the couple and their grandson into the bathroom and threatened to burn down the house. He ransacked rooms, yelling for money and jewelry.
The homeowner, terrified that the intruder would make good on his arson threats, broke down the bathroom door. He activated the alarm on his wife’s medical alert system. The alarm scared Warnock, who scooped up some valuables and ran for the garage. He pushed the homeowner, 65, into a wall as he fled.
Warnock drove off in the family’s Buick. They had been locked in the bathroom for nearly an hour. It was the first time their grandson had stayed overnight.
Less than a month later, Warnock broke into three other people’s homes as part of an attempt to elude police. He threatened to hurt them if they didn’t hand over keys to their cars or hide him from police. He barricaded himself in the last home and tried to set a fire in a bathroom. Officers shot tear gas into the house and captured Warnock as he climbed out a window.
Warnock will spend the next seven years in prison for his crime spree. He was sentenced last week for the April robberies. Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss agreed to let Warnock serve his prison sentence for those crimes at the same time he’s serving a six-year stretch for the March burglary. The convictions are Warnock’s second strike under the state’s persistent offender law.
Warnock blamed his crimes on his drug addiction.
“I can’t tell you why I was there that day. I don’t remember going there. I’m sorry. I have a real problem,” Warnock said at last month’s sentencing.
The Everett couple and their adult son attended the hearing, explaining the upheaval that Warnock’s actions caused, including the fear he caused to a young boy.
The 6-year-old was excited to stay overnight at his grandparents’ house for the first time. He carefully packed his bag, his dad told Superior Court Judge George Appel, who presided over that hearing. The boy didn’t want to forget anything and checked the bag more than once.
Warnock terrorized his son, the man said.
Nightmares about fires wake him. If he hears a noise at night, he reaches for a baseball bat. Warnock is a menace, the man said.
Appel called the defendant selfish. He warned him to get a handle on his addiction. “If you don’t, prison is where you will die, sir,” Appel said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
