As promised, we followed up on our report early yesterday about the latest arrest of 33-year-old Ryan Cox, who gained regional notoriety two years ago after a wave of homophobic-graffiti vandalism (2009 SPD-distributed photo at right). First: The arrest at Thriftway on Tuesday night was sparked by a report from the person he pleaded guilty to stalking in August. Municipal Court documents from that case do not include details of what the “stalking” involved. But Cox was under court order to stay away from the victim – and, according to Seattle Police, on Tuesday night, she called 911 to say she had spotted him close to her Morgan Junction-area home. Police responding to the call searched the area and found him in the nearby grocery store. They also discovered he had a $7,500 warrant for “failure to appear” related to the stalking case, and their report says they found a knife on him. He is charged with harassment, for the alleged no-contact-order violation, and possession of a concealed weapon. Online court records say he has pleaded not guilty to both, and that his next court date is set for October 6th. He is still being held in King County Jail, where the register indicates his bail has been raised to $25,000 total, for the warrant and the new charges.

Side note: In the comment section following yesterday’s story, we mentioned having met Cox’s mother in the past, and hoping she would contact us again. She saw the comment, and e-mailed us. We have asked her several questions about his case; a few of them, she is still mulling, but one answer for starters: “Ryan has had court-ordered treatment in the past, just for a few weeks at a time. When he takes the medications, he is nearly normal and we can have a conversation. When he is released with prescriptions and a medical card to pay for the prescriptions, he chooses to not take them. Then it’s impossible to communicate with him.” According to court records for the new charges, he has been referred to Mental Health Court, which has handled some of his previous cases.