Three notes in Crime Watch this morning:

RYAN COX UPDATE: Since his post-prison-release arrest last week, we’ve been watching the case. This morning, the VINE system sent notification that he is out of custody. The SCORE jail roster shows him still there with “scheduled release” tonight, so we are working to clarify. Regarding last week’s arrest, Department of Corrections spokesperson Jacque Coe told WSB that he “was arrested on a DOC warrant for two alleged violations; a) failure to comply with approved prison release address, and b) absconding by failure to report. As a condition of his supervision, he was to report to a field office within one business day of his release where geographical conditions, if any, would be discussed with him at that time, in addition to other resources of support specific to his needs.”

BUILDING-BURGLARY ARREST: A 36-year-old man is in jail, accused of breaking into a Morgan Junction apartment building in the 6500 block of California SW late Tuesday night. Police were called when the break-in was seen on live security video, with the burglar using a hammer to damage mailboxes, according to the SPD report. Police were told the suspect was first caught in the building three hours earlier, told to leave, then came back. Not only were the mailboxes damaged, the report says, two building doors also had handle damage, and door locks on two tenants’ vehicles were damaged. Police reviewed recorded security video and noted a “garden hoe” being used to damage the mailboxes as well as a hammer; both were found and taken into evidence. The police report says the suspect told police he had just ingested drugs, including heroin, so he was taken to Harborview for evaluation before being booked into jail. Online records show the suspect is awaiting trial for charges in three building break-ins on SW Avalon Way last November. We’ll update after his expected bail hearing in this case later today.

WHITE CENTER VANDALISM: Local community advocates are circulating this link to a crowdfunding campaign to help more than half a dozen White Center businesses deal with the damage done by vandals in recent months, and asked us to share it with you. The cases are being investigated by the King County Sheriff’s Office; we hope to get an update during tonight’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting (7 pm, online).

Two days ago, we reported on the release from prison of 43-year-old Ryan J. Cox, three and a half years after he stabbed a man in West Seattle, following a string of increasingly violent crimes over an eight-year span (detailed here). Early this morning, we updated our Tuesday report with news that Cox is back in jail for violating conditions of his release. Now we have additional information: Southwest Precinct police arrested him on a warrant issued because he did not report to his Department of Corrections officer as required post-release. That’s considered “escaping” from community custody (parole), under which Cox was to be supervised for 18 months post-prison. Police say the DOC contacted them last night to advise that a warrant was forthcoming. Police say they got confirmation of the warrant at 10:30 pm and arrested Cox 16 minutes later. The police report says that after his release from prison, he “immediately returned to the area (where) the original crime occurred,” and that’s exactly where he was arrested – in the 7100 block of California SW. Cox remains in the SCORE jail in Des Moines this morning. What happens now? We’re researching that as part of a followup inquiry we already had out to the DOC. State law classifies escaping from community custody as a felony. (DOC photo, July 2020)

2:20 PM: We’re at the King County Courthouse, where 40-year-old Ryan J. Cox has just been sentenced to 5 years in prison for stabbing a man in Gatewood in August 2017.

(August 2017 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)

Superior Court Judge Susan Amini presided at the sentencing. Though the victim could not be at the hearing, a victims’ advocate read a lengthy letter he had written, saying Cox “should never be able to be free” after trying to kill him. The judge mentioned receiving a number of other letters from the victim’s family and friends.

Cox pleaded guilty last month to an enhanced version of the original second-degree-assault charge. The sentence ordered by Judge Amini is what prosecutors recommended, categorized in court documents as an “exceptional sentence” – four years in prison, plus one year after that for using a deadly weapon. Cox’s lawyer, meantime, filed a brief just before today’s sentencing, asking for a six-month sentence, the low end of the “standard” range, saying Cox “is trying to overcome his past difficulties and to better prepare himself to deal with these challenges in his future.” At the hearing, Cox contended the stabbing was in self-defense and expressed anger after the judge announced her decision.

As detailed in this WSB followup in 2017, Cox has a high-profile criminal history in the community, but mostly misdemeanors, which is what made this sentence “exceptional.” We recorded this afternoon’s hearing and will add video and details later.

5:15 PM: Video now added atop this story.

ADDED 9:04 PM: Here is our recap of the hearing:

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(August 2017 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)

Earlier this week, we reported that it appeared a plea bargain was in the works for Ryan Cox, the 40-year-old repeat offender who’s been in jail since his arrest for stabbing a man in Gatewood almost a year and a half ago. (Our report on the August 2017 charges details what the victim told police and what they found the night of the crime.) Today, court documents confirm a plea agreement, but with a twist: Cox has pleaded guilty to not a reduced charge, but an upgraded charge. He was originally charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. The amended version of that charge to which he pleaded guilty Thursday has an additional enhancement (“aggravating circumstance” under state law), that “… the injuries of the victim of the current offense substantially exceeded the level of bodily harm necessary to satisfy the elements of the crime.” While the documents note that the “standard” sentencing range for second-degree assault is six to 12 months, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is recommending what is categorized in court documents as an “exceptional sentence” – four years in prison, plus the 12-month consecutive sentence for use of a deadly weapon. Cox’s sentencing hearing is set for two weeks from today, 1 pm Friday, February 8th, before King County Superior Court Judge Susan Amini, who has final say on the sentence.

BACKSTORY: While Cox has a long criminal history, dating back to age 17, his convictions are almost all misdemeanors, including the homophobic-graffiti vandalism that first brought him to public attention in 2009. His only felony conviction was the result of a 2013 plea bargain in an assault/malicious harassment incident in 2012. The rest of his long involvement with the criminal-justice and mental-health systems is detailed in this WSB story from the day after the 2017 stabbing.

Almost a year and a half after repeat offender Ryan J. Cox was arrested and charged with stabbing a man in Gatewood, the case may again be on the verge of resolution. His omnibus (trial readiness) hearing has been postponed twice in the past week; the document filed today says, “Parties have a resolution with all terms finalized” and that Cox is expected to enter a plea Thursday. Nothing’s final, of course, until it actually happens: Last July, as reported here, there was also word of a “resolution” but it fell through; today’s document also notes, “Parties will be asking for a continuance if case does not resolve.” Cox has been in jail since the night of August 8, 2017, when he was arrested after allegedly stabbing another man, and himself. We detailed his criminal history in this followup the next day.

By the time the new tentative trial date for Ryan Cox arrives, nearly 16 months will have passed since he was arrested following the August 2017 stabbing of a man in Gatewood. The latest hearing in his case resulted in a new trial date in early December, with both sides saying they still had to work to do to be ready; the prosecution, for example, told the judge it has two more witness statements to get and expects to present at least 20 witnesses at trial. In July, Cox was found competent to stand trial. He remains in jail in lieu of $150,000 bail and is due back in court November 16th for an omnibus (trial-readiness) hearing.

As reported here last week, Ryan Cox has been found competent to stand trial for assault in the Gatewood stabbing case from almost a year ago. After that ruling, he was due back in court today for a case-scheduling hearing, but it was postponed a week. The document in the online file says the postponement is because “parties are finalizing a resolution.” Does that mean a plea bargain? We’ll be checking the file daily. That’s how the last assault case against him ended more than four years ago.

When we last checked in on Ryan Cox, the 40-year-old repeat offender arrested after a man was stabbed in Gatewood last August, he had been ordered sent to Western State Hospital for an attempt at restoring competency to stand trial. Today, a King County Superior Court judge formally found Cox competent, an assessment that doctors at the state hospital had reached while he was there. According to the evaluation document that’s in the public court files, they diagnosed Cox with unspecified psychosis, while finding him in full understanding of the charges he faces and capable of assisting in his own defense. For his part, the evaluation says, Cox told them he “played crazy to come here” because he prefers WSH to county jail. It’s not the first time he has said that; we covered a Municipal Court hearing eight years ago in which he said that to his lawyer and then basically asked the judge if she could send him there ASAP. This was the first time in five years he had been to that hospital, according to court records. Aside from his time there, he has been in the King County Jail since his arrest, bail set at $150,000, awaiting trial on second-degree assault. Now that the competency issue has been resolved, his next case-scheduling hearing is set for July 26th.

(August 8th WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)

Three months after a judge ordered him to Western State Hospital, Gatewood stabbing defendant Ryan Cox is still waiting for a spot there to open up. As we reported in January, a judge ordered Cox to the state hospital for up to 90 days of treatment to attempt to restore competency to stand trial. He is charged with second-degree assault in an incident that left a man seriously injured last August. A status hearing for Cox was scheduled for this week; a court document filed yesterday says the hearing is postponed until July 16th. We checked with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to find out why, and they tell us he is “still waiting for admission,” which is currently expected to happen around April 30th. The up-to-90-days treatment clock won’t start until he is admitted. WSH has long been reported to have backlogs leaving patients waiting,

(August 2017 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)

A new development in the case of Ryan Cox, the 39-year-old repeat offender charged with stabbing a man in Gatewood last August: The results are in from the pretrial mental-health evaluation ordered last month for Cox, and court documents say he has been found incompetent to stand trial. As a result, a judge ordered him sent to Western State Hospital for up to 90 days of treatment to attempt to restore competency; at the end of that time; if he is found competent sooner, he’ll be sent back to the King County Jail, where he’s been since the August 8th attack.

Cox has been through this process (which is explained here) in at least one previous case, five years ago, when he was sent to Western State for an attempt at restoring competency when he faced hate-crime charges for a homophobia-motivated attack (WSB coverage here). As we reported seven months later, Cox subsequently was found to be competent, and pleaded guilty, which resulted in his first and so far only felony conviction. Prior to his August arrest, the last time he was charged with a crime was two years earlier, resulting in a misdemeanor trespassing conviction involving for Safeco Field after he was ordered to stay out. In the current case, he is charged with second-degree assault.

We’re continuing to track high-profile West Seattle cases making their way through the justice system, and today a pretrial hearing was held for Ryan Cox, the repeat offender charged with stabbing a man in Gatewood back in August. While Cox’s trial date remains set for January 29th, Superior Court Judge Dean Lum ordered a pretrial mental-health evaluation, to see if Cox is competent to stand trial. Cox remains in the King County Jail and that’s where the evaluation will take place, according to the court order, with results due back before another pretrial hearing on January 22nd.

As promised, we are continuing to follow the case of Ryan Cox, the repeat offender charged with stabbing a man in Gatewood a month ago. His first post-arraignment hearing was originally scheduled for last Friday; as he had done multiple times previously in early stages of the case, he refused to go to court, so a judge entered an order authorizing deputies to force him to appear today, if he tried refusing again, and court documents indicate a hearing was held this afternoon. Documents from the hearing indicate that Cox is seeking a trial rather than leaving the door open for a plea agreement, which is how a majority of cases are resolved. His trial date is tentatively set for October 23rd, depending on what happens at a case-status hearing on October 6th. Today’s court documents also say the prosecution is seeking a CrR 3.5 hearing in the meantime; according to state law, that’s a hearing generally held to rule on whether a defendant’s statements to law enforcement are admissible. Cox is charged with second-degree assault and remains in the King County Jail, held in lieu of $150,000 bail.

After Gatewood stabbing suspect Ryan Cox refused to appear in court for arraignment this past Monday and Wednesday, King County Superior Court Judge Sean O’Donnell signed an order this morning authorizing deputies to use “reasonable force … if necessary” to make him appear. We don’t know whether force was required – morning crash coverage kept us from getting to the downtown courthouse this time – but we do know, from online documents, that Cox did appear. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of second-degree assault filed against him, and his next hearing, for case-setting, was scheduled for September 7th. He remains jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail.

6:15 PM: Two notes in West Seattle Crime Watch:

DUMPED TOOLS: Know anyone who’s had carpet-laying tools stolen? Dan sent the photo:

They were found “on the median strip of SW Alaska St. between 46th and 45th Ave SW.”

RYAN COX CASE UPDATE: For the second time in three days, we went to the King County Courthouse this morning, where Gatewood stabbing suspect Ryan Cox was scheduled to be arraigned – to enter a plea to the charge of second-degree assault filed days after the August 8th attack. And again, the morning calendar ended after two and a half hours without his appearance – he again “declined to appear,” according to the document filed at midday saying the hearing is now rescheduled to 8:30 am tomorrow. We asked King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Dan Donohoe what happens if this continues. “We always argue that a defendant needs to be present in court for arraignment. Arraignment will eventually be completed. The Court can also issue an order allowing the jail to use reasonable efforts to bring a defendant to court.” (For the record, at least one other defendant on the morning calendar was described in court as declining to appear.)

CAR PROWL – ADDED 6:40 PM: One more reader report, just received from Ayla:

My car just got broken into last night that is parked right in my driveway on 17TH AVE SW! :( It was completely rummaged through — everything in the console and glove compartment pulled out onto the seat. They took my Apple desktop that I just bought from Employee sale. It was covered on the back seat and since it was heavy, I was waiting for my son to come home to carry it inside the house. They also took my makeup bag, sunglasses, and some groceries.

Such a low life and horrible heart! They must have needed it so bad for their drug money!I have to work overtime to purchase this computer! If they could go out and steal, why not use that energy to work for a guaranteed money? Why waste time and make other people’s life miserable! These thieves are heartless! They do not have values, morals, and discipline. I hope they catch these prowlers soon!

(August 8th WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)

We’ve just left the King County Courthouse downtown, where Gatewood stabbing suspect Ryan Cox was scheduled to appear for arraignment this morning. These are usually brief appearances, one in a long list of hearings brought sequentially before one judge, but by the time the 8:30 am arraignment calendar ended at 11 am, there’d been no sign or mention of him, so we checked with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Spokesperson Dan Donohoe tells WSB that Cox “refused to appear,” so the arraignment is rescheduled for the 8:30 am calendar on Wednesday. The hearing is for Cox to enter a plea to the charge of second-degree assault that was filed on August 14th, six days after the August 8th attack at California/Orchard that sent a 40-year-old man to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. In the meantime, Cox, who is 39, remains in jail in lieu of $150,000 bail, which was set when he was charged, after he refused twice to appear for a bail hearing .

(August 8th WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)

39-year-old Ryan Cox has just been charged with second-degree assault, with a deadly weapon, in last Tuesday night’s Gatewood stabbing attack. And Cox’s bail has been set at $150,000.

The 40-year-old victim remains in the hospital, according to a comment from a family friend, recovering from multiple stab wounds. Cox also was taken to Harborview after the attack last Tuesday night, with what police say was a self-inflicted stab wound.

According to charging documents, “the defendant is unemployed, homeless, and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia but does not take medication. He has been booked 28 times since 1997 and has had 26 warrants issued for his arrest.” The documents also include a more-detailed police-provided narrative that notes “Cox is a known transient, living in West Seattle, not only to the SPD officers that work in the Southwest Precinct, but to the citizens that live in the area.” That’s dated back to at least 2009, as we detailed in our Wednesday followup.

The narrative says that one witness saw Cox and Heeter arguing on August 2nd, and that they saw Cox pull a knife during that incident, though no one was injured. When Heeter was well enough to speak with police in the hospital last Thursday, the narrative says, he told them that he and his 3-year-old daughter were at a nearby gas station about a week earlier when Cox was there. Cox, he said, was yelling at everyone, including racial slurs. Heeter told police his daughter had become frightened and that Cox looked at them and said he better hold his daughter tight or he might get her. Hester said he told Cox to stop talking about his daughter and left. He told police he saw Cox again a few days later and tried to talk to him about frightening his daughter, but Cox started to yell. The night of the attack, Heeter said, he saw Cox walking near the Westside Unitarian Universalist Church and pulled into its lot, got out of his car, and yelled at Cox. That, he said, is when Cox lunged at him and started slashing.

The charging documents also include Cox’s side of the story, claiming he was being “stalked” by the victim, as well as detailing tirades at the hospital. (added) Here are the documents – please note that they contain the racial and homophobic slurs Cox is alleged to have used after his arrest. They do not include names of witnesses or any other third parties besides police and prosecutors, which is why we are uploading them directly rather than transcribing as we would otherwise do. Cox is scheduled to be arraigned – to enter an initial plea to the charge – on August 28th.

For the second consecutive day, Gatewood stabbing suspect Ryan Cox refused to appear for his scheduled bail hearing, according to King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Dan Donohoe. So another one has been scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday), and Cox remains in King County Jail, three days after he was taken into custody, accused of stabbing a 40-year-old West Seattle man multiple times after a confrontation at California and Orchard. The victim’s friends and family say he will survive. Prosecutors are expected to make their charging decision on Monday; as we detailed on Wednesday, Cox has been in and out of the criminal-justice and mental-health systems for years.

(WSB photos by Christopher Boffoli)

10:18 PM: Seattle Fire and Police are on the scene of what medical radio transmissions describe as a double stabbing at California and Orchard [map]. Two men, both around 40, are being taken to the hospital.

10:39 PM: WSB’s Christopher Boffoli is at the scene and reports that California is closed between Myrtle and Othello. The stabbings are reported to have happened out in the street.

10:55 PM: Though SPD has not yet commented at the scene, they’ve just tweeted that one man stabbed the other and then himself, so no one else is being sought. Seattle Fire says one man was transported with life-threatening wounds, one with non-life-threatening.

11:04 PM: While we are still waiting for a more-detailed account from police, multiple witnesses – at the scene and by phone – say the man with the life-threatening wounds was in his car when attacked by the other man. The car is reported to be the white SUV in our photo above.

12:20 AM: Police at the scene continue to decline comment, referring inquiries to media relations, so we likely will not learn anything more until later this morning. Christopher reports that as of midnight, the road was still closed as the investigation continued.

7:32 AM: So far, still no additional information from police. Meantime, a commenter identifying herself as the victim’s wife posted overnight that he was in surgery.

8:07 AM: Here’s the entirety of what police just posted to SPD Blotter, the first official information since one tweet late last night:

The male victim, age 40, is at Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries while the suspect, 39, is also at Harborview with non-life-threatening injuries.

On Tuesday, August 8th at 10:00 pm, Southwest Precinct officers responded to a call of a fight and stabbing near California Avenue SW and SW Orchard Street. Officers arrived and located both the victim and suspect. The victim had extensive injuries to his chest, head, and upper arms. Seattle Fire medics arrived and treated the victim at the scene and then transported him to the hospital. The suspect also had stab wounds to his thighs, which he stated occurred during the course of the attack.

It is unknown what led up to the confrontation, but witnesses interviewed at the scene confirmed that the suspect attacked the victim and that the victim was not armed. It is unknown what the relationship is between the two men, if any. Officers recovered a knife at the scene and submitted it into evidence.

The suspect was also treated at the scene and transported to the hospital, where he remains under police custody. Once the suspect has been cleared medically he will be booked into the King County Jail.

Detectives will conduct the follow up investigation.

This remains an active and ongoing investigation.

8:51 AM: As just noted in comments, police have confirmed to us by phone that the suspect, who remains in the hospital at last report, is Ryan Cox. WSB policy usually precludes identifying suspects until and unless they are charged, but given the neighborhood history with Cox, this is an unusual case and we are making an exception. That history goes back to 2009, when he was arrested in connection with graffiti vandalism involving homophobic slurs. At the time of his arrest, police said then, he was carrying a knife.

(added) It has been three years since he was last mentioned on WSB, after his release from jail following completion of a sentence for an assault case in which he pleaded guilty in 2013. As we mentioned in comment discussion below, we’ve checked city, county, and state records and no recent criminal cases were shown – the most recent case of any kind was a citation last December for “consuming/possessing open container of liquor in public,” according to the Municipal Court website. Before that, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing in August 2015.

ADDED WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Cox was booked into jail just before 8 pm tonight.

As promised, we followed up on the latest arrest of Ryan Cox, the West Seattle repeat offender who has been in and out of the criminal-justice and mental-health systems: The City Attorney’s Office tells WSB he will spend up to four more months in jail as a result of his most recent arrest. It dates back to the assault case in which he pleaded guilty last year. His original sentence ended New Year’s Eve. Three weeks after that, he was arrested for violating probation; though the CAO sought to have him kept in jail longer, a judge released him on personal recognizance after one day. Local business owners say he still wanders the area with disruptive behavior, and brought their concerns to the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting again this past Tuesday. Both new Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Wilske and Seattle Municipal Court presiding judge Kimi Kondo, who also hears cases in the city’s Mental Health Court, were there. During the meeting, we discovered via the publicly viewable SMC docket that another probation-violation warrant had been issued for Cox’s arrest, two weeks earlier. The wheels began turning after the meeting; the following day (Wednesday) he was arrested and jailed. Since then, he’s appeared again in court. CAO spokesperson Kimberly Mills tells WSB that while they wanted all remaining jail time to be imposed (about 11 months), Judge Pro Tem Robert Chung instead revoked the suspension of 180 days – six months – and “struck active probation.” With the time he has served so far, that would mean a release date no sooner than mid-June, Mills says. Side note: The short account of Cox’s Thursday hearing says the court was addressed by an SPD officer regarding “community concerns”; Capt. Wilske had promised Tuesday night that he would make sure that information was brought to the court’s attention.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Repeat offender Ryan Cox is back in jail this afternoon, hours after his case came up at last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting – on a night when the Seattle Mental Health Court was a long-planned topic of discussion.

During the discussion of Cox’s case, we discovered a warrant had been out for his arrest for two weeks, a warrant for violation of probation – same reason he had been taken in (and released after a day) last month. This time, the notation on the publicly viewable Municipal Court docket described him as “not a good candidate for probation” and labeled the warrant as “do not release.” (Photo at right is from 2009, distributed by police the first time Cox was being sought for vandalism.)

The docket also mentioned presiding Municipal Court Judge Kimi Kondo, who happened to be last night’s guest speaker.

Here’s how last night unfolded, including the discussion of the Mental Health Court in general, as well as Cox’s case.

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On Friday, we noted the release of repeat offender Ryan Cox, barely a day after he was arrested on a warrant related to his most recent assault conviction, following a discussion at last week’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting. This morning we have the promised followup information from City Attorney’s Office spokesperson Kimberly Mills, who has just spoken with the deputy city attorney on the case.

Mills says the warrant was issued because Cox “needs to report to probation to comply with conditions of mental-health and chemical-dependency evaluations and follow-up treatment,” but has now failed to, twice. With the second failure to report, “the city asked the court to strike probation and impose 60 days, since this was the 2nd time he failed to appear.” But instead, the judge denied that and granted the defense request to give Cox another chance to report to probation: “The court said it would allow him one more chance because the case was fairly new.” So if he fails to report today, apparently another arrest warrant would be the next step.

Cox’s jail stay last Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon was his third in less than two months; the previous warrant had him in jail January 10th through 13th, and his guilty plea in the case kept him in jail December 12th through 31st.

SIDE NOTE: The challenges in his ongoing saga include our state’s laws regarding mentally ill offenders and what it takes for them to be involuntarily committed. A proposal to change those laws has been introduced in Olympia, as our partners at The Seattle Times reported this past weekend.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

This month’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting began with the formal introduction of the Southwest Precinct‘s new leadership, and quickly moved on to a series of hot topics – including one citizen concern that already has led to action.

And until the citizen concerns were all spoken, the new precinct commander remained at the meeting with a larger accompanying contingent than is usually seen at the meetings – members of the Anti-Crime Team (ACT).

(Photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
“I’m Captain Davis, current Southwest Precinct commander.” Pierre Davis (at right in photo above) introduced himself for the first time since the two promotions reported here last week – his elevation from lieutenant, and previous commander Joe Kessler‘s promotion to assistant chief. He also introduced Lt. Ron Smith as the new operations lieutenant (second-in-command), and explained the black-uniformed ACT members filling the northwest corner of the room: “These are our bird-dogs, these are the individuals who go out and make things happen, they are our strike team, if you will.”

No current crime spikes, he said, and one particular category is half its usual rate – while burglaries run “10-12 a week” this time of year, “right now they’re at five or six.” He attributed that to the arrest of multiple suspects, which he described as “a crew that was just devastating our area.”

Then he asked for neighborhood concerns. First question was about last month’s High Point murder – we’ve already reported the reply, and questions about other unsolved murders, here.

Next, the community concern that seems to already have led to action: Ryan Cox is back in jail, for the third time in two months.

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While looking for someone else’s status on the King County Jail Register, we happened onto a familiar name: Ryan Cox. He is in jail again, this time for an assault charge, to which he quickly pleaded guilty, and for which he was sentenced. Quick backstory: Cox made citywide headlines in 2009 after a series of vandalism incidents that mostly involved profane, homophobic graffiti scrawled on signs, homes, businesses. He was arrested and jailed several times after that, most recently in October 2012, for an attack on a fellow passenger as they exited a bus on Avalon Way. Last July, as reported here, he pleaded guilty to hate-crime and assault charges in that case and was released from jail, having already served more time by that point than the sentence he received. Some of the previous cases against him were dismissed because he was found incompetent to stand trial.

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