(ADDED THURSDAY MORNING: 2002 mug shot from state Department of Corrections, at right) 37-year-old Duane Atwood, arrested in connection with a “flasher” incident on Beach Drive last week, is back in jail, charged with two felonies – indecent exposure and failure to register as a sex offender – and court papers say he is expected to be charged in another case soon. We first reported on his arrest last Saturday; his bail was set at $100,000 and, after posting bond, he was released that night, with a court date set for this afternoon. At today’s appearance, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tells us, Atwood’s bail was increased to $250,000 and he was re-arrested. Court documents include more information on this case and on the conviction that led to his status as a Level 2 Registered Sex Offender, and they say he is under investigation for the two recent, similar incidents – both also reported here (July 15th report here, July 18th report here) – as well as an unrelated crime last year.
As noted in previous reports, Atwood’s arson/burglary conviction was from 2000, and aside from a docket notation that it was a conviction for arson and burglary with sexual motivation, no other details were available online. In the charging papers, however, we find:
… the defendant set a fire on the deck of a residence of two adult females and using paint, wrote the word “Rape” on the sliding glass door. The defendant also left pornographic pictures on the door to the residence. The defendant entered the residence through a broken window and burglarized the residence, taking a purse and other personal items. When the females woke up the next morning, they discovered a fire smoldering on the deck, as well as the “rape” on the window and the nude photos of females attached to their front door. Shortly after, the phone rang and it was the defendant, telling them that he was the one they were looking for. He stated, “I wanted to f— you but you wouldn’t let me, but now I’m coming back for you.” The females called 911. The defendant was identified by his fingerprints and admitted what he had done.
He went to prison until 2002 but did not get sex-offender treatment, though he has been classified as a “dangerous mentally ill sex offender.” The court papers say he moved out of state and then moved back here in late 2010 but has not registered. They also say that while investigating this case, detectives discovered an allegation that he made telephond death threats against a female acquaintance last year – starting with sexual insinuation, then telling her he would rape and murder her – and that charges are expected in that case soon. And, the documents say, he has threatened to kill his ex-wife and is the subject of a restraining order because of that.
We’re still reading the documents for anything more to add. Atwood is scheduled for arraignment in two weeks. His arrest followed information given to police by the woman who told them she saw him exposing himself in a silver SUV the evening of Tuesday, July 22nd, at Beach Drive/Orleans (near Cormorant Cove Park); as she commented here, she got a license plate number, and that led police to a car owned by the defendant’s father.
| 79 COMMENTS