EVERETT — A sex worker was reportedly hit several times in the head with a baseball bat at a south Everett motel in June.
After investigating phone records, looking at video from the motel and collecting DNA samples, Everett police believe they have identified the suspect. They arrested a 41-year-old Centralia man Monday.
He used the name “Clyde” when he contacted the sex worker through an online advertisement, asking for a “date,” according to a police report. The woman told detectives that it was common for her clients to use fake names.
She had been living and working at the motel for several months. When Clyde arrived at the woman’s room, they agreed to have sex.
He got up to go to the bathroom and said she reminded him of his ex-girlfriend.
When he returned, he told her to stay turned around. She didn’t see the suspect hit her with a small baseball bat, court papers say.
She said she thinks she was struck several more times and lost consciousness.
The victim woke up a few seconds later and escaped the room. The man ran away and took her phone.
She had several head fractures when Everett police found her at the motel’s office.
When detectives met with the woman three weeks later, she still was suffering from the beating. She had blurred vision and had to have fluids drained from her injury. She also said she had trouble remembering things.
She said she still doesn’t know why the assault took place.
Officers pulled video surveillance of the motel and saw that the suspect went back inside the room a short time later. He left shortly after, carrying a baseball bat and other items, likely belonging to the victim. He drove off in a gray GMC truck with tinted windows and large rims.
Inside the motel, police found a used condom, a meth pipe and blood.
The woman gave officers the man’s number. She said that she backs up all of her cell phone information on the cloud as a safety measure.
Detectives identified the number’s owner, who looked similar to the man seen in the surveillance video, though the cameras were placed too far away to be certain. They discovered that he had a similar truck to the one seen in the video, too.
The detectives confirmed with T-Mobile that the number was used to send text messages to the sex worker, and that phone activity places the suspect around the motel at the time of the alleged assault.
A DNA test completed in October came up with no matches on record. The suspect under investigation wasn’t in the system since he had no qualifying convictions.
A forensic scientist said there was enough DNA from the scene to compare with the suspect if a sample was obtained.
The suspect was booked into the Snohomish County Jail under investigation of first-degree assault. His bail was set to $50,000 on Wednesday.
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
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