As first reported here yesterday afternoon, a 31-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the Morgan Junction hate-graffiti vandalism. As noted during last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, and confirmed in a jail-register check, he is currently being held for investigation of property destruction, which would be a city-prosecuted misdemeanor case, while possible charges of malicious harassment – a county-prosecuted felony – are reviewed. Since the suspect is not yet charged and we do not have details at this point indicating whether he was caught in the act – two of our criteria for identifying suspects prior to filing of charges – we are not publishing his name. But we have checked his record, which is a lengthy one, though most of the cases are from the ’90s and not available online. In Seattle Municipal Court files, which DO go back into the ’90s, online records show he was arrested in 2006 for a weapons violation and “pedestrian interference,” and in a 1997 case, he was arrested on two charges — trespassing and the same charge for which he is being held now, “property destruction with a value greater than $50.” We’ll continue to watch the case closely; as of right now, he is still in custody, according to the King County Jail Register.
West Seattle, Washington
21 Sunday
| 6 COMMENTS