Seattle police take over investigation of Somali man’s death

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office has turned over the homicide investigation of a man dumped under a bridge southeast of Lake Stevens to the Seattle Police Department.

Mohamed Salah Hassan, who was severely beaten and later died of head injuries, was left under the Pilchuck River bridge last Saturday. Deputies concluded the crime occurred in Seattle.

The 21-year-old, who had just moved to Rainier Valley in Seattle six months ago, may have been involved with gang members and drug users, said relatives and people in the Somali community where he lived.

Search continues: The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a man in a black Chevy pickup truck who allegedly followed and made lewd comments to two 11-year-old girls in Gold Bar.

The girls were riding their bicycles near 13th Street and Croft Avenue when the man pulled into a diner parking lot and waited for them to catch up. He asked them for help and then made the lewd comments, reported the sheriff’s office.

The pair immediately went to a nearby home to ask for help.

The man was described by the girls as in his 30’s, “fat and bald with a little hair around the sides.” His black truck was a newer extended-cab compact model with no canopy.

Truck spill: A grain truck dumped eight 50-pound sacks of finely ground cow feed into the southbound lanes of I-5 about 7:30 a.m. Friday, slowing commuters for two hours and raising some concerns, the Washington State Patrol said.

The bags burst open, creating a minor dust storm and lots of calls to the State Patrol to find out about the white powder being swept up by state Department of Transportation workers, troopers said.

The substance is not harmful to humans, the State Patrol said. It is fed to cows to increase milk production for calves.

The spill occurred in two locations, one just south of 44th Avenue W. and the other near 220th Street SW.

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