RENTON – Police are looking for an armed robber they’ve dubbed the Cookie Monster Bandit who is believed responsible for 14 robberies from Auburn to Seattle, including four in Renton.
The Renton Police Department is asking the public’s help in identifying a suspect in the robberies between April 15 and July 7.
The suspect’s description and his actions are similar in all 14 robberies, according to Renton police Sgt. Paul Cline.
The suspect is described as a black male in his 30s, 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet tall, medium to stocky build, with a small amount of facial hair. He typically wears a dark blue jacket and a blue fishing hat or a white baseball cap.
The suspect has targeted sandwich shops, pizza parlors and espresso stands. He is armed with a handgun and approaches lone employees, either showing them the gun or pointing it at them and demanding cash, according to Cline.
This suspect should be considered armed and dangerous.
King County Journal
Seattle: Fire spreads to nearby buildings
A two-alarm fire in the Wallingford neighborhood Friday destroyed a three-story townhouse that was under construction, spread to three adjacent homes and four cars and singed a nearby business.
A firefighter and two citizens suffered minor injuries, Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said. A man burned an arm, a woman’s face was burned and a firefighter was taken to a hospital with a sore neck.
Firefighters were still putting out hot spots two hours after the blaze was reported around 6 a.m.
Fitzpatrick said the fire extended to houses on the north and east side of the townhouse, and embers traveled to a third house to the north. Seattle Interiors, a business across the alley from the new construction, was singed by the heat, she said.
The fire was battled by 90 firefighters.
Associated Press
Men who built tunnel on border sentenced
Three men convicted of digging the first tunnel found under the U.S.-Canadian border were each sentenced to nine years in prison Friday.
The three, all from Surrey, B.C., were arrested last July, shortly after they finished the 360-foot tunnel just north of Lynden. It ran from the living room of a home on the U.S. side to a boarded-up Quonset hut on the Canadian side.
Prosecutors said Francis Devandra Raj, 31; Timothy Woo, 35; and Jonathan Valenzuela, 28, spent a year working on the tunnel, which cost an estimated $400,000.
The tunnel was filled in following the arrests.
Associated Press
Tacoma: Insane Clown Posse fans arrested
Five young people, apparently fans of the rap/hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse, face felony charges in a series of violent attacks at Fort Steilacoom Park, and police in suburban Lakewood have warrants for several more people, the prosecutor in the case said Friday.
The attacks over two nights would begin with the assailants calling to each other: “Woo! Woo! Juggalo!” Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor Phil Sorenson said Friday.
Fans of the group, which began in Detroit in 1990, call themselves “Juggalos.”
The attackers, carrying hatchets and machetes, beat and robbed people in the park June 19 and June 20 and threatened some with decapitation, according to court records.
They sent some victims to the hospital, with injuries that include “at least one broken jaw, one broken nose and a broken face. One girl was apparently ordered to take her pants off but she managed to escape. … They’re very aggressive,” Sorenson said.
The seven people in custody range from 18 to 29, he said.
Associated Press
Bellingham: Suspect in border chase sentenced
A fleeing California murder suspect whose car sped past a police barricade and clipped the Peace Arch was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday for his Whatcom County crimes.
Ishtiaq Hussain, 38, pleaded guilty in Whatcom County Superior Court to eluding a police vehicle and assault of law enforcement officers.
According to court documents, Hussain and his companion, Jose Antonio Barajas, 23, were suspected of murder in Richmond, Calif., and on the run to Canada Jan. 24 when a Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputy spotted them driving on I-5.
During a high-speed chase, Hussain’s car nearly hit two special agents when it passed a road barricade near the Peace Arch crossing in Blaine. Agents shot into the car, hitting Hussain in the neck.
Hussain’s car then scraped the Peace Arch and headed toward the southbound lanes at the border. County sheriff’s Deputy Stu Smith pinned the car with his vehicle, stopping it just south of the U.S.-Canada border crossing. Hussain was caught and sent to St. Joseph Hospital with the gunshot wound.
The Bellingham Herald
Hood Canal: Some oysters in Sound tainted
State health officials are warning people to be careful when eating oysters harvested from Puget Sound.
A sporadic outbreak of harmful bacteria found primarily in oysters sickened several people in Washington recently, the state Department of Health reported Friday.
The bacteria, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, can induce symptoms including diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, fever and chills. The illness can last from 2-7 days.
Thorough cooking will kill the bacteria, so health officials caution people against eating raw oysters.
For information on beaches closed to shellfishing, go to www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/sf/bio toxin.htm.
The News Tribune
Cathlamet: ACLU helping drug test appeal
The American Civil Liberties Union is helping parents appeal the Wahkiakum School District’s drug-testing policy for student athletes.
The ACLU says it violates rights guaranteed by the state constitution.
A Wahkiakum County judge agreed with school officials who found that random testing was the best response to the drug threat to students.
The ACLU is taking the case directly to the state Supreme Court. The Wahkiakum County prosecutor’s office is representing the school district.
Associated Press
Ephrata: Police catch vandalism suspects
Grant County sheriff’s deputies say they’ve broken up a theft and vandalism ring made up of a group of children – some as young as 5 years old.
Deputies arrested the children at a Moses Lake housing subdivision after a series of break-ins at schools. In one case, playground equipment at Larsen Elementary was set on fire, causing $5,000 in damage.
Four boys and one girl were booked into the Grant County Juvenile Jail for investigation of burglary, theft, possession of stolen property and malicious mischief. The two youngest were turned over to their parents.
Associated Press
Olympia: Inmate must wear shock cuff at trial
A jail inmate accused of attacking a Thurston County jail guard will wear an electronic cuff on his leg during his upcoming assault trial, a judge has decided.
If Carl Vance becomes violent during his trial the device can deliver an immobilizing shock.
“It would only be utilized to protect other people,” said Daniel Berschauer, a retired Superior Court judge presiding over the trial.
Vance, 62, is accused of attacking a deputy in a courthouse elevator March 31 as she was escorting him to a courtroom. The 20-minute struggle lasted until other deputies were able to pry open the elevator doors.
The assault trial is set to begin July 31. Vance also faces two other trials; he’s charged with robbing a grocery store in 2002 and failing to register as a sex offender after moving.
Associated Press
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