Lynnwood teen jailed in series of burglaries

LYNNWOOD — She thought she was having a bad dream. In fact, she was in the middle of a real nightmare.

The 10-year-old Lynnwood girl woke up early Sunday to find a strange man sitting on her bed and stroking her neck, according to court papers filed in Snohomish County Superior Court on Monday.

The man, 18, put his fingers in the girl’s mouth to silence her when she started to scream. She bit him, the court papers said.

Now the man, a student at a south Snohomish County high school, is behind bars, held on $1 million bail. Police believe he’s a serial burglar, motivated by sex and responsible for nearly 15 break-ins since 2005.

On Sunday, the girl’s father heard her screams, jumped out of bed and ran down the hallway. He struggled with the intruder before the man broke loose and ran off. The girl’s father called police.

A police dog led officers to Joseph Tewelde Habte-Egzy of Lynnwood. He’s accused of breaking into homes through unlocked doors and windows, going into the bedrooms of women and young girls and terrorizing them by lying next to them, touching them and exposing himself.

The man was arrested Sunday and booked into the Snohomish County Jail early Monday for investigation of seven counts of first-degree burglary, one count of attempted burglary and one count of indecent liberties.

On Monday, an Everett District Court judge ordered Habte-Egzy held on $1 million bail.

He also was expelled from Meadowdale High School, where he was enrolled as a senior, said Debbie Jakala, an Edmonds school district spokeswoman.

In a police interview after his arrest early Sunday, Habte-Egzy allegedly told detectives about nine burglaries he committed during the past two years, the court documents said. He told police he wanted to steal iPods, cell phones and laptops to sell.

“There’s definitely some additional cases that we think he has some involvement in,” Lynn­wood police detective Greg Jamison said.

On Sunday, Habte-Egzy gave detectives a tour of north Lynn­wood pointing out homes he’d broken into, the court document said.

There was the home where on Oct. 23, 2005, a woman awakened at 4 a.m. and an attacker tried to silence her by putting duct tape over her mouth. Habte-Egzy was 16 at the time.

On Nov. 13, 2005, a woman who answered a 3 a.m. knock on the door and was jumped by somebody who put her in a bear hug. Habte-Egzy allegedly told police that he is the person who ran away when she screamed.

Early on Dec. 2, 2005, he’s accused of sneaking into the bedroom of a 15-year-old girl. The assailant said he had a gun, placed his hand over her mouth and told her to scoot over before he fled, the court documents said.

At around 5 a.m. on Christmas Eve 2005, Habte-Egzy is suspected of having broken into a home and sneaking into a young woman’s bedroom. When the 19-year-old woke up, the attacker said her parents were tied up and being held at gunpoint, the court documents said. Habte-Egzy allegedly ripped off the woman’s underwear and pushed himself against her, asking her if it “felt good.” When she fought him, he left saying he was “tired of this…,” the documents said.

Habte-Egzy on Sunday told detectives he was “slightly turned on” during that Christmas Eve attack, and that it had “gotten out of hand,” the documents said.

Officers suspected on Sunday they might be dealing with the burglar the department has been investigating for two years, Jamison said. It had the signature of the previous cases: location, time, suspect description and mode of operation.

“It was in many respects a match to our series that we’ve had since 2005,” he said.

In May 2006, Lynnwood police arrested Lamar Bryce Anderson in a similar burglary. Police believed there may have been a connection to the series of break-ins, but none was established. Anderson was convicted and served time for the burglary, court records show.

Still, the crimes continued.

Now, police say they are confident they’ve caught the right man.

Habte-Egzy and his family are cooperating with the investigation, Jamison said.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.