MUKILTEO – A fight may not just be a fight anymore, police say.
Gang assaults are happening in all parts of Snohomish County, and police and the community need to pay attention, according to Snohomish County sheriff’s detective Steve Haley.
A beating Tuesday across from Kamiak High School that left a 15-year-old from Mukilteo with broken bones and black eyes shouldn’t just be dismissed as boys being boys, Haley said.
“Having two 15-year-old boys come to a disagreement and fight it out, on a grand scale, may not be a big deal,” he said.
But if one or both of the combatants are involved in a gang, the fight can quickly escalate to involve a dozen or more people, and the possibility of guns or knives being used, Haley said.
Haley has been tracking gangs in Snohomish County for about a year. He has documented a rise in gang-related crimes and in every part of the county has identified people who claim membership in, or affiliation with, criminal gangs. His list now includes hundreds of names.
In the gang world, beatings have meaning, he said.
“These assaults can be to initiate someone into the gang or … for retaliation,” Haley said. “And sometimes there is some denial” that assaults are connected to gang activity.
Zaiah Boone, a freshman at Kamiak, said he expected to fight one person on Tuesday to settle a dispute over a girl.
Instead he said he was beaten in the back of a car by three older boys who had red flags wrapped around their fists.
The beating took place just after school let out for the day.
Mukilteo detectives on Thursday continued to investigate the possibility the assault may be gang-related.
“We can’t say at this point. We do believe we’ve identified all the parties involved, and we potentially have 100 witnesses to talk to,” Mukilteo police detective Lance Smith said.
Kamiak Principal Keith Rittel sent out an e-mail Thursday advising parents of the assault. Three students have been disciplined in connection with the assault. The district declined to say if the students were expelled.
In the message to parents, Rittel wrote that gang activity isn’t an issue at Kamiak and “diligent steps have been taken to enforce strict disciplinary action against students who display ganglike behavior.”
If police determine the assault was gang-related, the district will discuss what needs to done, said Mukilteo School District spokesman Andy Muntz.
“It’s not something we’re going to push under the rug. School has got to be a safe place to be,” he said.
Gangs often target schools to recruit new members, Haley said. Those new recruits may be assaulted or required to commit an assault or other crime to prove their allegiance to the gang.
Lynnwood police investigated the possibility that an attack on a 15-year-old Lynnwood girl on Saturday was gang-related. The teen was left with facial injuries after being beaten by a young stranger.
On Thursday police arrested a group of young people suspected of robberies and assaults, but they have no reason to believe they are gang members.
The suspects – three girls, ages 13, 14 and 16, and a 21-year-old man – are believed responsible for other crimes, Lynnwood police spokeswoman Shannon Sessions said.
The group is under investigation for the robbery of a woman whose purse was taken at the Alderwood mall food court. They also are under investigation for the assault of another woman, 53, who was struck in the face after she asked a girl to remove a bicycle from the library.
“We have no evidence they’re in a gang at all,” Sessions said. “These are young thieves who rob people for money.”
Three of the four are family members, she said.
Across the country police have noticed a surge in gang activity in the suburbs.
Police say they need the community’s help to combat gangs in Snohomish County. They want people to report graffiti and assaults. They also need people to come together to educate youth about the dangers of being part of a gang or even claiming to be part of a gang.
“It’s an ugly reality in Snohomish County,” Haley said. “They are here to stay. Ignoring it or pretending it isn’t what it is, will only make it worse.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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