CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: Street-robbery suspect charged

The 18-year-old suspected in two Thanksgiving-night robberies in The Junction is now charged in one of them. Abdi K. Jama is charged with second-degree robbery, accused of throwing a woman to the ground and making off with her purse, working with two juvenile accomplices. The three also are accused of robbing the Junction 7-11 earlier in the evening, in both cases claiming they had a gun, though none was seen and none was found after their arrests.

According to the police narrative accompanying the charging document, the victim, who is not a West Seattle resident, was dropped off at California/Alaska at 11 pm Thanksgiving night to catch a bus home. She first noticed the three suspects across the street watching her; two crossed the street, including Jama, and the one with him grabbed her purse strap. When she tried to resist, that suspect said, “Just let it happen,” and then, “I don’t want to shoot you.” They both kept tugging at the strap until finally it broke and the victim fell to the ground, at which point they ran off northbound, with the victim in chase until she spotted a police car that had happened by. That officer, patrolling the area, had seen what was happening, sounded his siren, and notified other officers by radio. He lost sight of the suspects by 44th and Oregon, and with other officers searching, he went back to check on the victim. One juvenile suspect was found in a bus shelter near the original robbery scene, with the victim’s purse and items that had been in it. A K-9 team found Jama and the other juvenile suspect in an alley nearby.

Jama, who lives in West Seattle, has no criminal record, and his bail was set at $5,000; he was out on bond within two days. When filing this charge, prosecutors requested a warrant be issued with his bail increased to $50,000. According to the document on file, Judge Catherine Moore declined, and bail remains at $5,000. No online information is available about the juvenile suspects’ status so we don’t know if either or both has been charged.

Jon December 1, 2017 (7:00 pm)

Judge Catherine Moore should probably be getting some phone calls about her lenience when it comes to violent criminal offenders.

Jeannie December 1, 2017 (7:32 pm)

Why would Judge Catherine Moore decline the request to increase bail? OK, that’s sort of a rhetorical question. Let’s just hope nothing like this happens to her.

Seattlite December 1, 2017 (7:38 pm)

How terrifying for that poor woman to be accosted by these three criminals. What is also terrifying is Catherine Moore’s decision of a low bail. So no descriptions of these three criminals to help those of us who would like to know the faces of the criminals who roam West Seattle streets. Scary.

junior December 1, 2017 (10:36 pm)

This judge needs to be held accountable. If this criminal pulls another crime, she needs to pay.

WSB December 1, 2017 (10:43 pm)

Judges are elected and that’s their accountability. Judge Moore was elected one year ago and had an opponent – which is relatively rare in judicial elections these days – who she defeated 55% to 45%. I believe it’s a four-year position.

Wsres December 2, 2017 (8:13 am)

Hopefully this judge detailed to this kid, what would happen if he did this again. Bond is 10% of bail, correct? $500. I know this kid. $500 would impact his family, and for $5000 he would have probably been left in jail. I sure hope he realizes how quickly he got caught and how stupid that was. If he does it again, the judge will not let him off with such a low bail.

McGruff December 2, 2017 (2:57 pm)

WSRES, this was no innocent juvenile prank. This was a deliberate, violent, predatory act, and this kid needs to be in jail. I find it hard to believe his family saw no warning signs that their son was in league with a bad crowd (for all we know, he’s the ringleader). They need to be paying attention.

If (and probably when) he does it again, it will be worse. I pray not ‘Tuba Man’ worse, but with such lenient treatment by a judge, I suspect that this is just the beginning of a long and sad association with the criminal justice system for this little hoodlum.
- Wsres December 3, 2017 (11:18 am)
  
  I’m not saying it was a prank. What I am saying is that he is an adult now and I hope he and his family realizes this judge gave him a break, but if it happens again, he will be sitting in jail because the bail will be higher. I hope his family reads this. He has put a lot of shame upon his family by stealing and threatening as if he had a gun. I hope you are wrong about him continuing to be a hoodlum, but if he continues to go down that path, I hope they set his bail higher.

KT December 2, 2017 (9:39 am)

Hmmm, $5,000 bail (or really $500 bail). This was no shoplifting. This was a violent crime. Two crimes as a matter of fact – one involving violence and one involving a threat of violence. No criminal record or not, this was a big way to jump into criminal activity. Our justice system in King county is a joke.