Across Puget Sound, youth violence is on the rise, experts say. Edmonds is no exception.
In recent months, city police have confiscated weapons, including at least one shotgun, from youths and young adults under the age of 25, records show. Reports of chilling local crimes, two of which are included in this story, represent a significant departure from Edmonds’ image of small-town charm.
The city is trying to get tougher. The City Council passed a tough new graffiti law Jan. 15. Some of the city’s graffiti is gang-related, police said.
Police have noticed the uptick in youth violence, Chief Al Compaan said.
There were 11 gang-related incidents in Edmonds in 2006, and 13 in 2007, police said. There isn’t a statistic for youth violence. But, gang names that surfaced during police investigations include some of the famous Los Angeles-based gangs, but the predominant Edmonds gang — Flipside 23 — is local enough that even Seattle police are unaware of it, Edmonds police said.
Those close to the violence aren’t exactly sure what to call it. It isn’t all gang violence, but sometimes it can seem close.
“It depends on how you define (gang). If you define it by the letter of the law, then there might not be much (gang activity),” said Edmonds school resource officer Tom Smith, who Compaan described as on Edmonds’ anti-gang front line. “If you define it by ‘They think they are in a gang’ or ‘They act like they are,’ then it is different.”
For instance, Flipside 23 doesn’t have an organized structure. That is required of a legally defined gang. Its membership is multicultural and of high-school age, which is atypical of established gangs. Also, legal gang classifications require groups be involved in ongoing conspiracies to commit criminal acts. That isn’t always happening.
The easiest thing to define is unacceptable, violent behavior, Compaan said. “I think we are seeing that,” he said.
It is a fact, though, that regional gang activity is increasing. In Snohomish County, police are seeing increased incidents with Hispanic gangsters. In Seattle, African-American gangs are said to be responsible for three murders since Jan. 1.
Locally, more youths are wearing gang colors and exhibiting gang-like behavior, Snohomish County prosecutor Janice Ellis said Jan. 24. “Gangs in the traditional sense are not on the rise,” Ellis said. “But behavior associated with gangs might be.”
One incident that helps illustrate the realities of youth violence in Edmonds is described in a 44-page police report obtained by the Enterprise. The mid-August incident involved repeated threats, a shotgun, knives and drug paraphernalia.
According to police, around midnight Aug. 15, 2007, after a record breaking 84-degree day, four vehicles carrying 19 people drove slowly and repeatedly past a two-story home in the Maplewood neighborhood.
In the preceding 10 minutes, some of the occupants of the vehicles — none older than 23 — had placed at least 17 phone calls to a 21-year-old man inside the house. The occupants wanted a fight.
After circling past the home, the callers said they were coming back once more — and soon. One caller said the group had a 12-gauge shotgun and threatened to use it, according to the 21-year-old resident. The callers threatened to smash cars outside. They threatened to burn down the house.
The 21-year-old’s father, who was also in the home, called the police, who raced to the scene.
Almost as soon as the first officer arrived, three of the four vehicles returned. In front, a black SUV crept slowly with its lights off.
Officer Doug Compton pulled the three vehicles over. His gun drawn, he called for backup.
Just then a fourth car, a red Honda, arrived. Nearing what was now obviously police activity, the car turned rapidly and raced away. Compton called for more backup. All listed Edmonds police units were now responding to Maplewood, police records show.
As more police arrived, 15 people were pulled from the first three cars and grouped on the ground as they had been inside the vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Honda continued to flee, with police now in pursuit. The car raced down 200th Street Southwest and Meadowdale Drive, and turned onto Main Street, where two police cars pulled it over.
With their weapons pulled, two officers found four people and a 12-gauge shotgun in the Honda. Three of the four denied any knowledge of the gun. The fourth occupant told police the gun belonged to an unnamed friend who had given him the weapon to “bring to Index to go target shooting.” No charges were filed against anybody in the Honda.
From the first three cars, police found a 5-inch knife and a pair of brass knuckles belonging to a 16-year-old Edmonds resident. A 17-year-old from Mountlake Terrace had a second knife, and a wallet emblazoned with a gang-related logo. Police found drug paraphernalia belonging to a 16-year-old Snohomish suspect. The two knife owners were arrested.
In a separate incident just weeks earlier, two of the Aug. 15 vehicle occupants had been pulled from another car with different dangerous weapons by Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office deputies, according to police documents
Eventually, participants told police that insults posted on MySpace pages helped spark the Aug. 15 event.
MySpace pages from some individuals involved in the Aug. 15 incident continue to hint at the possibility of more violence. Some of the pages, reviewed recently by The Enterprise, are full of self-identified gang affiliations. Some posts from 2006 reference the Los Angeles-based Bloods gang, others describe illegal activity, or show pictures with people flashing gang signs and wearing gang colors. The wallet logo is featured prominently on many MySpace sites.
Some of those in the Aug. 15 incident admitted to police the broad outlines of the allegations made against them. Some said they planned to participate in a fight while others were just hoping to watch. In the end, though, nobody was hurt.
Similar circumstances have led to deaths in South Snohomish County, however.
In September 2006, a brawl in Brier ended in the shooting death of 21-year-old Jay Clements. That fight was initially set for a parking lot in Edmonds’ Westgate community, Chief Compaan has said. When one of the parties decided not to show up, the other party went to Brier to force the issue. Clements — who was not involved in the initial dispute — was shot trying to break up the ensuing fight.
Gangs cross jurisdictions, Compaan said. Increasingly, police are also working collaboratively across political lines to fight them. Police are also trying to increase community interaction, and strictly enforce laws on the books, he said.
“We have had some of our moments here in Edmonds,” Compaan said. “We have been fortunate, but we are not immune.”
Another of those moments, unrelated to the August incident, occurred in October 2007. That 30-page police report reads like a Hollywood movie scene.
According to police, an Oct. 20 house party on 76th Avenue West near Perrinville was crashed by three uninvited people, one known to the eventual victim. A large fight broke out, and the police were called. By the time they arrived, the unwelcome houseguests were gone.
Gone for the moment, perhaps, but not for the night, according to the case report.
Two hours later, at 3 a.m., with most of the partygoers either gone or asleep, one of the three — described as a 20-year-old white male — returned. He slashed the rear tires of the car in the driveway. The popping tires made noises loud enough that somebody from the house decided to investigate.
A 20-year-old Edmonds resident saw the suspect dumping a gallon of gas on and around the car, he wrote in a police statement.
“I yelled, ‘What … are you doing?’ He then said, ‘You’d better back … up!’” the statement said. “I backed way off and he lit the vehicle on fire. He walked away. I ran inside the house, woke everyone, and ran back out. The car owner and I then attempted to put the fire out with the hose and a fire extinguisher.”
They failed. The car and its contents were destroyed, according to a fire department report.
The suspect left behind a beer can, gas can and knife, but police were unable to gather fingerprints. Photographic lineups failed to identify the arson suspect and no arrests have been made, although police do have a suspect, they said.
While the arson case involved youths no longer in school, fighting gangs is increasingly an effort based in schools and with younger kids, Compaan said. Better parenting helps, of course, but close police supervision can calm young people, he said.
“To me, it’s a sad commentary that we ‘have to’ have police officers in schools,” he said. “But as far as a community investment in our youth, and as far as keeping a lid on things and being proactive, our school resource officer is one of the best investments we’ve ever made.”
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com
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