Snohomish jeweler dies

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, December 20, 2005

SNOHOMISH – Jeweler Brad Jorgensen, 55, who sought justice following a brutal 2002 robbery and assault at his store, died suddenly early Tuesday.

“We’re just trying to keep the store going right now,” said Lesa Kraft, an employee of Sachi Fine Jewelry and Design on First Street here.

Kraft was in the store with Jorgensen on April 12, 2002, when two people wearing hooded sweat shirts burst into the store, pepper-sprayed the two, pistol-whipped Jorgensen and made off with $28,000 in jewelry.

One of the young men pleaded guilty. A second, who was charged with first-degree robbery, fled to Switzerland after he was released on bail.

Jorgensen and Kraft filed a lawsuit against the two in Snohomish County Superior seeking damages, and he sought prosecution of the second suspect, Adrian Elvis Gordon, now 22.

Mark Roe, chief criminal deputy prosecutor, said Jorgensen believed that Gordon also should face prosecution.

All the store’s employees and many townspeople came into the store during the day Tuesday to pay respects and to mourn, Kraft said.

“We all came together like a family,” she said.

Jorgensen and his wife, Sue, have two grown sons. The store has been in its current location 27 years, and Jorgensen has owned it for 17. It has become a fixture in town.

After the robbery, the community backed Jorgensen.

“Brad is an intricate part of this community,” Kraft said. “It was important how Brad felt, so they were all behind him.”

The store remains open for now, but Kraft said there are no long-range plans.

“We have a very reliable staff. We are all here together, and we’re joining forces,” Kraft said. “We’re doing this for Brad.”

Carlo A. Torrejon, who was 17 at the time of the robbery and assault, pleaded guilty in adult court and agreed to testify against Gordon.

In November 2002, Torrejon was sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Gordon, who has relatives in Switzerland, skipped bail and grabbed a one-way flight overseas. Gordon, who was a student at Seattle’s Roosevelt High School at the time of the robbery, has dual U.S. and Swiss citizenship.

Under Swiss law, he cannot be forcibly extradited to the U.S. For a while, Roe relied on Swiss promises to prosecute Gordon there.

“I’ve long since given up hope the Swiss will do what they said they were going to do,” Roe said Tuesday,

The prosecutor became well acquainted with Jorgensen, and said he was shocked at the news of his death.

He knows Jorgensen wanted a final resolution with Gordon’s prosecution, but will never see it now.

“As a prosecutor, you like to bring people to resolution. Adrian Gordon has to come under the heading of one that got away,” Roe said.

Roe said Jorgensen respected Torrejon for “taking his medicine” and he hoped Gordon would someday grow up and do the same.

Meanwhile in the store on Tuesday, “we’re all just blown away,” Kraft said. “We spent the day between lots of laughs and lots of crying.”

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.