WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: 5 followups

Here are five followups on cases we’ve been tracking via court records:

SOUTH DELRIDGE GUNFIRE: The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged 40-year-old Tony R. Britt with first-degree unlawful gun possession. Britt has been in jail since the incident we reported last Saturday, in which a passerby reported seeing a man firing a gun near 16th/Barton. Britt is a convicted felon, with a four-state record including convictions for assault, burglary, drugs, and theft, so it was illegal for him to have the 9mm handgun that police say was holstered in his waistband. Case documents say Britt first told police it wasn’t his, then pointed out that no one was hurt, and finally declared it was his “God-given right” to protect himself. They couldn’t check on the gun’s ownership because its serial number had been ground/etched off. He’s behind bars at the Regional Justice Center, bail set at $25,000, awaiting arraignment March 31st.

GAS-STATION CAR-THEFT SUSPECT: The 42-year-old arrested in an attempted car theft at the Delridge Arco on Tuesday isn’t charged yet in that case but he is charged in Kitsap County with second-degree assault, so we’re publishing his name: Jaycee C. Thompson. Details of that case aren’t available online except that the warrant for his arrest set bail at $100,000 when it was issued last month, putting him on the Kitsap sheriff’s “most wanted list.”

SWAT STANDOFF SUSPECT: Last Friday, we reported on an arrest following a SWAT standoff at Camp Second Chance. This suspect too turned out to have a warrant from another jurisdiction; 38-year-old Ricco Graves is not yet charged in the West Seattle incident but has been transferred to the federal detention center in SeaTac because of a federal warrant.

WESTWOOD VILLAGE BURGLARY SUSPECTS: Almost 3 weeks ago, we reported on the filing of charges against Rafael Meyers and Jerry Plute Jr., both 34, arrested after a break-in that left three business spaces damaged at Westwood Village last month. Both, you’ll recall, were released the next day. Records show neither appeared for their arraignment on March 10th, but King County Superior Court Judge Melinda Young declined to issue bench warrants, citing a state Supreme Court order in response to the pandemic giving judges that discretion. Days later, the court file shows, the court notice sent to Plute’s Top Hat address came back marked “moved, not here any more.” Online records show Meyers has two hearings scheduled next week for three prior felony burglary cases in which he is charged; Plute has no other cases pending.

REPEAT MAIL-THEFT SUSPECT: 37-year-old Jason A. Turner is back in jail for the second time since his release 16 days after he was charged with felony mail-theft. He is the man police have arrested multiple times on suspicion of mail theft, usually in the North Delridge area, a. This time, he was arrested elsewhere, accused of shoplifting $224 worth of merchandise from the SODO Home Depot; he had been ordered in January to stay out of all of the chain’s stores for three years. The KCPAO tells us they requested Wednesday that he be held on $5,000 bail; District Court Judge Fa’amomoi Masaniai set bail at half that. This arrest came four days after Turner spent a day in the South King County SCORE municipal jail for a theft warrant. He is due back in court this afternoon. (ADDED SATURDAY: He was released Friday night.)

9 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: 5 followups"

  • Tim March 19, 2021 (6:21 pm)

    Of course they didn’t appear for their court arraignment. Why bother.  Nothing to lose. 

  • 1994 March 19, 2021 (11:12 pm)

    Westwood Village burglary suspects: “Records show neither appeared for their arraignment on March 10th, but King County Superior Court Judge Melinda Young declined to issue bench warrants, citing a state Supreme Court order in response to the pandemic giving judges that discretion.” Pretty much a given they would fail to appear for arraignment….pandemic or no pandemic. So just issue the bench warrants already! 

  • confusedus March 19, 2021 (11:55 pm)

    What a joke. Thanks Melinda Young. More repeat felony criminals with little to no punishment seems to be the new normal here.. Wow.

  • anonyme March 20, 2021 (7:37 am)

    I’ll bet the cops love having to arrest these same guys over and over and over again, just to see them released immediately – even with felony charges.  This total lack of accountability by judges, notably Melinda Young in the Westwood Village case, not only encourages criminals but leads logically to vigilantism.  Where is the justice for victims and taxpayers?  And I’m not talking about the revenge aspect of justice, but about protecting citizens from these serial offenders.  I’m sick and tired of hearing about how judges’ hands are tied when this judge clearly made a decision not to issue a well-deserved bench warrant on perpetrators who have now disappeared.  Toro merde.

  • WSNative March 20, 2021 (8:10 am)

    Two more judges now added to my “vote out of office” list. Thank you WSB for publishing the crime report and including the names of the judges.

  • flimflam March 20, 2021 (9:32 am)

    wow, big shocker that those two guys didn’t show up for court. another huge shocker that yet another judge refuses to actually deal with these criminals appropriately…

  • Dave March 20, 2021 (1:01 pm)

    Since this is followups. The person in the RV crash/elude that put an elderly man in the hospital is out too.

    • WSB March 20, 2021 (5:12 pm)

      Yes, he would have been next on this list but I only had a couple hours to sink into it and cut it off at five. He has yet to be charged and was released after three weeks in jail. I am continuing to watch for his name in the system – just because someone isn’t initially charged doesn’t mean they won’t eventually be.

  • sgs March 20, 2021 (2:53 pm)

    It is eye opening to be informed about how the judges are operating and the legal basis.  Thank you for including that information. 

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