Shoplifter sentenced for injury he caused
Published 11:18 pm Thursday, August 16, 2007
A Seattle man’s attempt at shoplifting earned him more than three years in prison Thursday after a judge was told the would-be thief forever altered the life of a Lynnwood pet store employee.
Kenneth Blaine Quinlan, 35, ran the woman over with a car as she attempted to rescue a pet duck that had become endangered in the fracas. At the time, he was trying to get away from a security guard who had caught him trying to shoplift $250 speakers for an iPod.
Quinlan, an ex-convict with a history of drug abuse, told Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Bowden that he’d made a mistake.
The judge said the March 23 mayhem was just another entry in a “record of irresponsibility.”
Bowden told Quinlan that society expects him to respect others’ rights and property.
“That’s not rocket science,” Bowden said. “It’s kindergarten stuff.”
Quinlan pleaded guilty in June to three felonies and a misdemeanor. The most serious charge was vehicular assault for running over the pet store worker. She was left with a fractured pelvis and serious leg injuries.
The incident unfolded after Quinlan’s then-girlfriend went into the pet store with her pet duck, Mr. Peepers. While she was inside, Quinlan attempted to shoplift at another store.
The security guard followed Quinlan to the Petco store, where the defendant got the car keys from his girlfriend and tried to escape. During the getaway, he backed up and struck his girlfriend, causing her to drop her duck.
A Petco employee saw what was happening and ran to save Mr. Peepers. She was run over by the car.
Quinlan didn’t stop until his vehicle collided with another car.
The injured woman was in court Thursday, walking with assistance of a cane. She wept while deputy prosecutor Paul Stern recounted how Quinlan had taken a case of shoplifting and turned it into “an absolute catastrophe.”
The injured woman’s husband, William Harting, said his wife has faced numerous surgeries and likely never again will walk normally, or run or jump.
“What you did was completely wrong and not the way a human being behaves in society,” Harting said.
Bowden sentenced Quinlan to three years and seven months in prison [—] the maximum punishment under state sentencing guidelines.
A former heroin addict, Quinlan told officers he’d just received a dose of methadone at a Lynnwood clinic and had been using cocaine before the incident, according to court papers.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
