Herald staff
BREMERTON — A disabled woman in a wheelchair was frightened in October by a strange man who came into her Silverdale home through an open door and appeared to be performing a lewd act.
A Navy identification card found 50 feet from the door has led prosecutors to bring a felony criminal charge against a crewman from the USS Bridge.
Gerald Roberts, 32, is charged with second-degree burglary.
The woman told deputies a man came through an open sliding glass door, was performing a lewd act, and she feared she would be attacked. However, he ran when she screamed, the woman said.
A Navy ID card was found in the street nearby, according to the court file. Roberts wasn’t interviewed by authorities until the USS Bridge returned to port about Nov. 10.
He admitted having been in the woman’s house, but told police he had been fleeing the angry boyfriend of a woman with whom he had been caught having sex in his car at a nearby park. The boyfriend blocked his car with his own and began pounding on his windows, he said.
He ran into the woman’s house, still partially unclothed, and grabbed her arms to keep her from calling 911, he said.
Detectives said the suspect was unable to tell them how to reach the other woman or her boyfriend to corroborate his story.
Four-county burn ban ends: A burn ban in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties was canceled Thursday morning. The ban on indoor and outdoor fires, imposed Nov. 15, was lifted because the flow of air in the Puget Sound region had improved, dispersing smoke and other airborne pollutants, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency said. A permanent ban on outdoor fires in urban-growth areas of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties remained in effect, however. Urban areas of Kitsap County will join the outdoor burn ban Jan. 1.
Two dead, one injured in shooting: Two people were killed and one person was hospitalized after a shooting Friday evening at a restaurant in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey. Police released few details about the shooting, but confirmed one person was taken to a hospital. Two bodies could be seen inside the restaurant, located in a strip mall. Witnesses said men wearing balaclavas ran from the scene after the shootings.
Husband’s shooting ruled accidental: A woman who fatally shot her husband in the back did it accidentally while she was taking down a high-powered rifle to clean it, Mason County detectives have concluded. William L. Cuzick Jr., 39, died Nov. 2 of a single gunshot wound at his home in Lilliwaup. The gun was on a wall on nails, and clothing was hanging on the nails, detectives said. "As she pulled it through, it either caught on the clothing or the nail," the report said. Detectives found no evidence of domestic violence, and police reported that Diane Cuzick was hysterical when she called 911.
Officials identify dead woman: A woman found strangled in an Olympia duplex has been identified as a 46-year-old resident of Portland, Ore. Tuyet Hoa-Thi Tran’s body was found Oct. 30, and the Thurston County coroner says she died on the evening of Oct. 28 or the morning of Oct. 29. Fingerprints from the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service were used to confirm her identity. Police don’t have suspects, but are seeking Tam Thanh Nguyen and Quan Nguyen, who rented the duplex about two weeks before the death. Police said they found about $300,000 worth of cash and marijuana in the duplex. The victim and her common-law husband knew the Nguyens, deputy prosecutor Mark Thompson said. The husband dropped her off at the Nguyens’ home Oct. 27 and returned to Portland. When he couldn’t reach Tran, he returned to Olympia and asked police to check on her. Three days later, the husband returned and went into the duplex, where he found Tran’s body.
Boy brings gun to school: A 14-year-old Springfield boy who brought a loaded .22-caliber pistol to his middle school has been charged with possession of a firearm in a public building, unlawful use of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm. The boy brought the gun to Agnes Stewart Middle School on Tuesday in his coat pocket. He was charged Wednesday and will remain at the Juvenile Justice Center while he is evaluated. Springfield Police Sgt. Mike Wisdom said there were rounds of ammunition in the clip but none in the gun’s chamber. The boy apparently stole the gun from his parent’s gun cabinet, according to police reports. Detective Tom Rappe said the boy had been suspended from school for two weeks in March after threatening to bring a gun to school to shoot another student.
