Man arrested after girl, 17, found slain in her apartment

EVERETT – Detectives investigating the slaying of a 17-year-old girl have a man in custody, deputy chief Jerry Burke said Friday.

The girl was found dead in her apartment on Highway Place about 2 a.m. Friday, Everett police Lt. Greg Lineberry said.

“We don’t believe the community is at risk,” he said. “We have a person in custody. He is our suspect.”

The person in custody is a 20-year-old man. Police released few other details and declined to say how she died, other than to describe it as “homicidal means.”

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Officer released no information but performed an autopsy on Friday.

The investigation is ongoing, Burke said.

Store robbery: Police are seeking the public’s help to identify a man who robbed a convenience store and attacked two employees.

The robbery occurred at 4:45 a.m. Monday in the 13500 block of Highway 527, detective Kate Hamilton said.

The two employees, both women, were treated at a hospital and released.

The two women were working in the store when the robbery occurred. One worker was outside the back of the store when someone jumped her from behind and knocked her unconscious, Hamilton said. Her shouts for help alerted the other woman. She ran inside to call for help, and the robber then attempted to choke her, rendering her unconscious as well, Hamilton said.

A woman who was at a park-and-ride lot said she saw a man wearing a dark, hooded sweat shirt riding a bicycle quickly down the middle of the road just after the robbery.

Detectives ask anyone with information about the robbery to call police at 425-337-1115 or 425-745-6175.

Woman identified: The Snohomish County medical examiner identified a woman who died in a traffic crash south of Everett as Sandra Garcia-Torres, 22, of Everett.

She died of severe head injuries Tuesday at the crash scene at 128th Street SW and Eighth Avenue W., where a car in which she was a passenger collided with a pickup truck. The crash prompted Snohomish County sheriff’s investigators to close the road for nearly seven hours.

The male driver and the woman’s 7-month-old son were treated for minor injuries. The man driving the pickup was uninjured. Sheriff’s officials did not release their names.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen said.

Sex offender: The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office has issued a public warning Friday about a convicted sex offender who has registered to live in the 4200 block of Mission Beach Road in the Marysville area.

Christopher John Tanner was convicted in Skagit County Superior Court in 1991 for raping and robbing a 17-year-old female desk clerk at a motel. He also has convictions for property and drug-related crimes, and he committed 63 major infractions while he was in prison, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen said.

Tanner declined to participate in sexual deviancy treatment or substance abuse treatment in prison, and his potential to commit more crimes cannot be overlooked, she said.

State law allows police agencies to warn the public about the presence of registered sex offenders in the community who are considered the most dangerous or likely to commit more crimes. They are required to register their current address with the county sheriff.

Tanner is a white male, 29, 6 feet, 185 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes.

Sheriff’s personnel will conduct a public meeting to discuss registered sex offender issues applicable to the neighborhood. The meeting will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Tulalip Elementary School, 7730 36th Ave. W. Residents who have concerns or want additional information are urged to attend.

Espresso stand robberies: A pair of young robbers held up two espresso stands early Friday, one in Everett and one in the Lynnwood area.

The first robbery occurred shortly before 5 a.m. in the 1900 block of 110th Street in the Silver Lake area, Everett police Lt. Greg Lineberry said. The two, in their late teens or early 20s, robbed the clerk of an undisclosed amount of money and fled on foot.

The second robbery occurred shortly after 5 a.m. at the Buzz Inn Espresso in the 16500 block of Ash Way in the Lynnwood area, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen said.

In that incident, one of the males jumped through the stand’s window. They fled again with an undisclosed amount of money, Jorgensen said.

Witness descriptions of the robbers in the two holdups matched, authorities said.

One was a white male, wearing a mask and armed with a knife, wearing a dark blue shirt, dark blue pants, a dark blue hooded sweat shirt with a zipper, and tennis shoes. The other was a light-skinned black male, wearing a gray, hooded sweat shirt and tennis shoes. Both were about 5 feet 7 inches tall with thin builds.

Bank robbery: Police and the FBI are seeking a man who used a note to rob Everett Trust Bank in the 1900 block of 110th Street SE about 11:30 a.m. Thursday. He escaped with an undisclosed amount of money.

Witnesses at the Silver Lake bank described the robber as a white male, 6 feet, 170 pounds, in his 50s, wearing a dark blue baseball cap and dark-rimmed glasses.

Detectives ask anyone with information on the robber to call the Everett police tip line at 425-257-8450, or the FBI in Seattle at 206-622-0460.