Another Crime Watch followup: Why Ryan Cox got out, again

On Friday, we noted the release of repeat offender Ryan Cox, barely a day after he was arrested on a warrant related to his most recent assault conviction, following a discussion at last week’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting. This morning we have the promised followup information from City Attorney’s Office spokesperson Kimberly Mills, who has just spoken with the deputy city attorney on the case.

Mills says the warrant was issued because Cox “needs to report to probation to comply with conditions of mental-health and chemical-dependency evaluations and follow-up treatment,” but has now failed to, twice. With the second failure to report, “the city asked the court to strike probation and impose 60 days, since this was the 2nd time he failed to appear.” But instead, the judge denied that and granted the defense request to give Cox another chance to report to probation: “The court said it would allow him one more chance because the case was fairly new.” So if he fails to report today, apparently another arrest warrant would be the next step.

Cox’s jail stay last Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon was his third in less than two months; the previous warrant had him in jail January 10th through 13th, and his guilty plea in the case kept him in jail December 12th through 31st.

SIDE NOTE: The challenges in his ongoing saga include our state’s laws regarding mentally ill offenders and what it takes for them to be involuntarily committed. A proposal to change those laws has been introduced in Olympia, as our partners at The Seattle Times reported this past weekend.

16 Replies to "Another Crime Watch followup: Why Ryan Cox got out, again"

  • Alkiwendy January 27, 2014 (11:42 am)

    May I ask the name of the Judge that gave him one more chance?

  • mike January 27, 2014 (12:18 pm)

    And when he/she is up for re-election? (Not that it matters much, since they always seem to unopposed!)

    • WSB January 27, 2014 (12:26 pm)

      It was listed as Mental Health court last Friday but I don’t know who was presiding; it’s not on the docket. Had hoped to be there in person, but another story erupted at the last minute.

  • JW January 27, 2014 (1:00 pm)

    I just can’t believe the lunacy ! The judge is not helping Ryan by putting him back out on the streets and the judge certainly is not helping those of us who have been vandalized by him for the last 4 years. I read the article in the times and I admire their their efforts.

  • JW January 27, 2014 (1:40 pm)

    I highly encourage anyone who has had dealings with Ryan Cox to attend the next anti crime meeting at the SW precinct
    On Feb 18tg at 7pm. There will be a representative from the city attorneys office as well as a judge who handles cases of the mentally ill.

  • Danny Gladstone January 27, 2014 (2:03 pm)

    @Mike: I tend to select other and then write in “none of the above”, just as a visual protest, when I don’t care for the candidate that is running unopposed. It won’t change the outcome, but if enough people do this, maybe it will cause the “elected” official to rethink their policies.

  • flimflam January 27, 2014 (4:48 pm)

    ….and how long until we have to read about (or be a victim of) this wonderful guy again? my guess is “won’t be long”.

  • Alkiwendy January 28, 2014 (6:38 am)

    Mitchell Monroe Taylor, the man arrested for threatening, anti-gay postings on Mayor Ed Murray Facebook page on January 16, 2014 was ordered held in Jail on $600,000 bail. In checking the King County Jail Bookings online, he is still in Jail. Mr. Taylor’s attorney told the court that his client has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, and had not been taking his medication. He asked the court to release his client on $1000,000 bail. From what I can determine, there are no known medications to treat Asperger’s syndrome. But medication can be used to treat specific symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome.

    Enlighten me, what is the difference between Mitchell Taylor’s actions and Ryan Cox’s actions?

  • JW January 28, 2014 (7:04 am)

    Good question Alkiwendy ! I hope Tracy has an update on Ryan’s court appearance yesterday

    • WSB January 28, 2014 (4:23 pm)

      He didn’t have a court appearance yesterday. It was Friday, and that’s what this story was a followup about. I checked the Muni Court docket again and unless he violates probation again, nothing further is scheduled, for now. But I continue to watch the file as well as the jail register… Since there is no further indication of another warrant so far, that seems to indicate he did report to probation.

  • WSince86 January 28, 2014 (7:58 am)

    Is there a picture of Ryan Cox available to view? Would be helpful to see who this gut is.

    • WSB January 28, 2014 (8:15 am)

      https://westseattleblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ryan-cox.png
      .
      That is one of the images from the original series of incidents which brought him to citywide attention, graffiti vandalism with homophobic slurs written on garage doors, signs, and other places, going on five years ago now. He has not served time in state prison, so there is no mug shot; there was a head shot distributed back in 2009 but I have seen him in court (not a photography situation at the time) and he did not look anything like that photo, so we don’t republish it.

  • rick in the Park January 28, 2014 (1:05 pm)

    If you want to meet him, he pretty much lives in Lincoln Park,
    at the compost area adjacent to the main ball field. Either that or the Solstice park Pea patch.
    Look for the hoody, red backpack and plastic grocery bag.

  • Alphonse January 28, 2014 (6:57 pm)

    Does he no longer carry around a jug of milk? I have to say, for someone who seems to be profoundly mentally ill, he sure seems to be cognizant enough to work the system.

  • WSince86 January 29, 2014 (8:03 am)

    Thanks for the pic. I meant ‘guy’ not ‘gut’. Ahhh autocorrect!

  • JW January 29, 2014 (11:26 am)

    Ryan currently carries a Trader Joes bag and wears a green jacket with a red back pack. One of the officers I have been communicating with has been talking with the crisis intervention people who hopefully can help Ryan.even though we have had ongoing problems with Ryan, I don’t believe he is “working the system “. He truly needs ongoing help .

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