33 Replies to "FOLLOWUP: Summer Fest robbery suspect makes court appearance; set free on personal recognizance"

• Eric1 July 13, 2015 (6:38 pm)

  Lol. Robbery = no bail.
  .
  Unless this guy has a $4,500 a month job, he needs to be in jail or put up some bail money. But I guess bail money is unfair to the poor who need to rob other people for money. We don’t want to make Seattle an inhospitable place for criminals.

• mr. the horse July 13, 2015 (7:25 pm)

  wow.

  just wow.

• julie98106 July 13, 2015 (8:05 pm)

  Just think of it as income redistribution.
  And he can sue you if you won’t rent to him.

• Out for a walk July 13, 2015 (8:05 pm)

  No bail??? You’ve got to be kidding!!!

• flimflam July 13, 2015 (8:07 pm)

  aww, he just wanted to be a part of SummerFest2015.

• Out for a walk July 13, 2015 (8:26 pm)

  There must be more to this story. No reflection on West Sesttle Blog. Surely there must be some rationale by the court to NOT require bail???

• ScubaFrog July 13, 2015 (9:05 pm)

  Do we have any legal scholars here? Is it usual in Seattle, that there’s no bail for felony robbery charges? I’ve read about cases where people are charged with less, and spend years in county jail fighting their cases.
  –
  I’m naïve to these matters, but this seems absolutely absurd to me.

  • WSB July 13, 2015 (9:21 pm)

    It’s entirely up to the judge. I’m sorry I wasn’t at the hearing to get the fine points, but even following up this much is more than we can often do with robberies … I just happened to guess which suspect on the jail docket he was, and when the prosecuting attorney’s office rustled up the probable-cause documents, it turned out I’d guessed right. Remember, he is NOT yet charged. Release of a suspect does not mean he won’t be charged.

• Bradley July 13, 2015 (9:16 pm)

  Heck, why did they even bother arresting him, then?

• ScubaFrog July 13, 2015 (9:23 pm)

  Oooh ok ty WSB for clarifying. I was under the assumption that he was formally charged.

• Out for a walk July 13, 2015 (9:42 pm)

  Thanks, Tracy. The Blog is always there with information or an explanation. Really appreciate all of your work. Let’s hope they have the right guy and he’s still available to attend his next hearing.

• Matt S. July 13, 2015 (10:20 pm)

  Amazing. I guess we should all take the money and run if there’s so little risk. Bummed for the heroic folks that stopped the guy.

• carole July 13, 2015 (10:52 pm)

  If he has no felony history and has ties to the community, and has not yet been charged, release on own recognizance not unusual. That can change once charges have been filed and he is formally arraigned.

• erico July 13, 2015 (11:34 pm)

  Reading these comments make me think no one knows what bail is. It is not punishment. In the US people are tried and convicted before they are punished. Bail is set to ensure that a person shows up for court. Why bother arresting him? So that he can be charged and tried and if found guilty punished. Just because no bail is set does not mean that he will not be punished. The time a defendant spends in jail prior to trial is not punishment for the crime. I am not commenting on whether bail should have been set, just trying to correct the misperception that this person has gotten off with no punishment.

• Eric July 14, 2015 (5:45 am)

  And why wasn’t he charged yet? I doubt it was from a lack of evidence or witnesses, where the prosecutor has to work up a case

• Jeff July 14, 2015 (7:22 am)

  You are right of course Erico, it’s just that some of us have seen this sort of thing before. He will not show up in court, which is technically another violation, but all it will amount to is an extra stern talking to when he’s picked up for his next crime.

• burglarbustindad July 14, 2015 (8:36 am)

  If you forcefully grab a bag of money from its owner…you should go to jail. If this guy does not receive punishment, he will do it again…plain and simple.
  If our Mayor/City Council and Police Department do not return crime prevention as their number one priority, we will see more of this.

• Garden_nymph July 14, 2015 (9:34 am)

  Let’s take the SPD out of that statement. They are doing what they are allowed to do… The Mayor, City Council (Bruce Harrell) seem to think they know what’s best for Seattle. The SPD is just the following orders to stand down, differ or counsel instead of making arrests. Seems even when they do, the case is dismissed… How about we VOTE for a City Council that demands that thugs are arrested and stopped when they block traffic, march without permits, start to vandalize?! How about we let the SPD arrest criminals that make Seattle unsafe!

• wscommuter July 14, 2015 (9:53 am)

  @Eric … take a breath … he WILL be charged. It doesn’t happen immediately only because of the high volume of felony charges referred to King Co. Prosecutor’s office. But as a violent crime, he’ll get charged soon. erico is correct – if he was released, it was only because of information that he didn’t have a violent history or history of previous “failure to appear.”

  He will get charged with Robbery 2nd degree (Rob 1 requires a weapon or more violent action). This is a strike offense under the “3-strikes you’re out” law. If he is a first offender, the punishment is a sentence range of 3-9 months in jail. If he has prior felonies, the punishment will be higher.

• Btsea July 14, 2015 (10:23 am)

  How can we find out the name of this irresponsible judge so we know who to not vote for next time?

  • WSB July 14, 2015 (10:34 am)

    Wish I could research that today but we are totally overextended. Not on the docs I got yesterday and I have no idea who was on duty at the jail courtroom at the time.

• julie98106 July 14, 2015 (10:47 am)

  I am sad about the man murdered last night on 10400 block.There is quite a bit of robbery going on. I hope they catch the shooter soon.Last Friday wasn’t too great down on MLK way 3 shot on one day. I am sure the Gang unit is all over it.

  • WSB July 14, 2015 (12:21 pm)

    Julie, you probably know this, but that is a King County case. We covered it on our White Center Now site:
    http://whitecenternow.com

• Sunny July 14, 2015 (10:51 am)

  It is terrifying how quickly people are willing to give up their rights. Willingness to take away an individual’s rights, threatens all of us, including yourselves. Thank goodness people smarter than us created the laws and due process that make up our judicial system in order to protect all citizens from overzealous individuals eager to mete out “justice”.

• carole July 14, 2015 (12:04 pm)

  Enough with the irresponsible judges. It is disheartening to see how many people do not understand how the criminal justice system works. Police arrest, prosecutors charge. It doesn’t happen simultaneously. There have been tremendous cutbacks at all justice levels: prosecutors and their staff included. There is a paperwork trail that leads to charges, a court schedule already jammed in which to schedule formal arraignment on those charges. At that time the arraignment court will have a fuller history of the defendant and bail will be readdressed.

• Craig July 14, 2015 (1:56 pm)

  Thank you carole for being the voice of reason here. The process is working. It’s a slow process because there are many other things at play that protect the innocent, allow for defense of the accused and allow for prioritization of those that are more dangerous. Nobody here knows the details of the case that the judge had. The accused was caught by the police – that’s their job done. The accused will be held accountable for the charges and with a lawyer at his side take the next steps. If he doesn’t appear in court it’ll still be on his record and someday he’ll be caught and deal with the crimes, but worse for it. Nobody said he’s innocent. Nobody said he’s not going to jail. I bet if the tables were turned and each of us on the threads did something stupid or was in the wrong place at the right time we’d want a similar checks and balances by a judge who saw that we had connections with the community, had no previous crimes, etc and we’d want to go home to prepare to answer for our bad judgement or mistaken charges. This is a big complex system. Swing by the jail sometime and see for yourself.

• Brian July 14, 2015 (3:44 pm)

  Glad people were able to tackle the guy; I must admit I wouldn’t be so quick. If you saw someone running down the street with some guy yelling after him and I tackled him, how do I know the guy I just tackled isn’t going to sue me? You don’t know what the situation is in the spur of the moment. Am I overthinking?

  Anyway, glad they got him.

• Eric July 14, 2015 (4:28 pm)

  @wscommuter,

  What’s with the “take a breath” comment? I asked a simple question and you replied with a cheap ploy of trying to paint my character as someone frothing at the mouth. Nice.

• JTB July 14, 2015 (5:05 pm)

  Eric, you didn’t ask a simple question—you led with one and immediately followed comments which can only be viewed as critical at best if not sarcastic. WSCommuter didn’t paint your character in the way you represent. However, if her response prompted you to reconsider your input, good on both of you. It’s been very disheartening to me to see the responses in this thread which opt for whining rather than applauding the community spirit of those who came to the aid of the vendor. I can only assume that many of the posters on this thread haven’t followed earlier accounts of how offenders are handled in hearings and arraignment.

• Eric July 14, 2015 (5:56 pm)

  Well JTB,

  You obviously do not know the meaning of when someone tells another to take a breath. It is used to tell someone to calm down or imply that they are in a rage or panic. Yet read my reply and you’ll see no exclamation points, or me typing caps, or exclamatory phrases. I asked a simply question and stated my doubts as to why the person wouldn’t have been charged. So I don’t need some smug remark to what I said.

• carole July 14, 2015 (8:20 pm)

  Eric,the person wasn’t YET charged because the system doesn’t work like tv. He will be charged, notified of an arraignment date, and if he fails to appear a warrant will issue. The legal system is not set up to satisfy society’s need for instant gratification.

• carole July 14, 2015 (8:24 pm)

  Oh, and “working up a case” involves considerably more paperwork and processes than simply dragging someone before a judge. Something as simple as a typo in citing the charged statute can cause problems later in the process.

• west July 17, 2015 (1:46 am)

  he obviously has no criminal record, he’s young, he most likely has ties to the community. a pr is on the generous side, but i don’t know why it is such a big deal to anybody. have some compassion, you don’t know his situation, what he has been through or going through. he’s a human being and he’s clearly in a bad choice making poor choices. petty crime and drug use is not exactly a glamorous and desirable lifestyle. i am not trying to defend his behavior (i wouldn’t be surprised if i knew about him and his life i would have a poor opinion of it, but that’s besides the point), but there is no indication that he is a real danger to anybody. many on here seem like they would be happy to lock this young man up and throw away the key. he deserves a chance at life, and let me tell you people generally don’t come out of prison “fixed”. anyways, fortunately the legal system (flawed as it is) takes a more practical approach to things than some people would like. so here’s how i bet this will go ; he will get arraigned, go to court, get a plea deal for a lesser charge (depending on the details. if there was an actual threat of violence or physical contact beyond grabbing the bag out of the mans hands, the prosecutors may be unwilling to reduce the charge.) he will be sentenced to somewhere between 0 and 3 months if the charge is reduced (theft 2 seems like a likely outcome), and 3-6 if it is not. he will sit in a cage for somewhere between 0 and 4 months (assuming he gets his good time). it won’t be very fun. he will likely be on community custody for 12 months+ after he is released. he will have a felony (possibly one classified as violent) on his record, hurting his chances of finding a good job and housing, among other things.
  if he persists in committing crimes, his sentences will increase as his record grows. somebody that has a lengthy record will get 2 years in prison for shoplifting (or stealing in any way) something worth 750 dollars. hopefully that will help somebody here feel more confident that people are being sufficiently punished. also, 1 in 18 american males are in jail prison or on probation or parole (so yeah, punishment seems to be working real well huh?). Hope that makes you guys feel better. i don’t know why anybody would think increasing these numbers would be a good idea. read into drug treatment and mental health counseling, around 90% of the incarcerated population has either drug and alcohol problems or mental health problems (both universally recognized by the medical community as diseases) that directly relate to their incarceration. prevention and rehabilitation seem like they might be better options. anyways i could go on about this for days although this is i’m sure an exercise in futility, if anybody that disagrees with me got this far i am sure they will probably just be mad at this point

Sorry, comment time is over.