A Snohomish jewelry store owner and an employee have filed a lawsuit seeking civil damages from a Seattle man accused of assaulting and robbing them two years ago, then fleeing to Switzerland.
Brad Jorgensen and one of his employees, Lesa Kraft, filed the lawsuit Thursday in Snohomish County Superior Court.
The lawsuit also seeks damages from others allegedly connected to the April 12, 2002, crime. They include unknown people who helped Adrian Elvis Gordon, then 18, jump bail and leave the country, and those who have helped him remain in Switzerland, where his grandmother lives.
The lawsuit also names the parents of Carlo A. Torrejon, who was 17 when he helped rob the store.
In November 2002, Torrejon was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty in adult court to two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of second-degree assault and agreed to testify against Gordon for a reduced sentence.
On the day of the robbery, two people wearing hooded sweat shirts burst into Sachi Fine Jewelry &Design. They pepper-sprayed Kraft and Jorgensen, then hit Jorgensen in the head with a Beretta 9 mm pistol. Then they used a hammer to smash three display cases and grab $28,000 worth of jewelry.
A neighboring store owner chased the robbers, pulled out a handgun and fired several shots at the fleeing Honda. Gordon, who was shot once in the arm, was tracked by a police dog and arrested. He posted bail, then fled several days later.
Swiss authorities arrested Gordon in November 2002, but he posted bail three weeks afterward. Gordon remains free, although the Swiss prosecution continues to move ahead, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Mark Roe said.
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