Two men who allegedly stole thousands of feet of copper wire from runway light towers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are in custody facing federal charges, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.

JERAMIE HARMS, 28, will make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle today at 1:30 p.m. TIMOTHY LYNCH, 50, is in custody in King County, Washington, on an unrelated charge and will be scheduled for his appearance in the coming weeks. The theft was discovered on February 12, 2013, when a Port of Seattle employee noticed damage to the fence surrounding the runway light structures near South 188th Street and Des Moines Memorial Drive. In total, approximately 7,200 feet of copper cable was stolen from the FAA light towers, rendering them inoperable and potentially posing a threat to airline safety.

According to the criminal complaint unsealed today, HARMS and LYNCH entered a secured area of Sea-Tac airport and removed copper cable from the light towers. HARMS first came to the attention of law enforcement in connection with a King County burglary. While being questioned by law enforcement, information was developed linking HARMS and LYNCH to the wire theft. The copper wire cost more than $77,000 when it was installed in 2008. HARMS was arrested yesterday afternoon.

The men are charged with theft of public property which is punishable by up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force which includes officers from the Port of Seattle Police Department, the Seattle Police Department and the King County Sheriff’s Department. The case is being prosecuted by Executive Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Bates.

Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Emily Langlie at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov.

Around 9:40 AM, police responded to a report of a fight in the park near Occidental Avenue and S Washington Street, where witnesses told officers about the groping incident.

Witnesses also told police a crowd of people had chased the suspect through Pioneer Square, and that the suspect had punched two people in the crowd.

Officers separated the man from the crowd—which officers believed “wanted to take matters into their own hands”—and booked the man into the King County Jail for three counts of assault.

The suspect told the victim that he wanted money from him and that they should then part ways. When the victim questioned this the suspect then started choking the victim until he was unconscious and then took $39.00 from him.

The victim was unconscious for about two minutes. Third parties that were dining at a nearby restaurant, which is adjacent to the park, witnessed this incident.

Bike officers responded to the area and located the suspect who was still in the park. They placed the suspect in custody after the victim and the third party witness identified him.

The suspect was booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Assault.

While several officers were dealing with the uncooperative male an unleashed pit bull charged towards two of the officers. One officer shot the dog twice in the chest/shoulder area. The dog ran off but was contained nearby until animal control arrived. The injured dog was transported to the local veterinary hospital.  Although bleeding, the dog was in remarkably good condition and actually walked with Animal Control to their vehicle. The two officers were not injured.

Homicide responded and processed the scene. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to Detox.

The victim gave both men a cigarette and then one of them produced a can of chemical agent and pointed it at the victim. The victim attempted to flee on foot but was caught by both the suspects and knocked to the ground.

The suspects demanded the victim’s phone and wallet. The suspect gave up his computer bag which contained his ipad. The suspects rifled through that and took the victim’s ipad and then went through the victim’s back pockets demanding his wallet and phone. They were not successful at retrieving those items and the suspects fled on foot.

The victim had a tracking program for his ipad. After calling 911 he began tracking the device. An officer arrived and coordinated the search with the victim and had numerous officers respond to the area to conduct a search.

Officers working a VPEP patrol responded to the area and located the suspect still holding on to the ipad. The suspect attempted to conceal some brass knuckles in a trash container. The victim positively identified the subject as one of the suspects who violently robbed him. The victim also identified his ipad with the security code.

The suspect was processed and later booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Robbery.  Officers recovered an ID card off of the suspect that did not belong to him. The suspect told officers that the ID belong to the other suspect involved in this incident. The 23-year-old suspect  already has two robbery convictions plus various other crimes in his criminal history.

Suspect 2 is still at large.

 

A DV assault suspect was arrested after he was found hiding in a sofa storage compartment. This morning, just shortly after 11:00 a.m., officers responded to a DV Assault at an apartment in the 8600 block of Delridge Way SW.  The investigation showed that the victim had been assaulted and had attempted to report the incident to 9-1-1.

While the victim was on the line, making the report, the suspect grabbed the phone away and threw it into the trash can.  The suspect fled before officers arrived.  The victim reported at that time that the suspect had at least three firearms that he kept positioned at various points throughout the apartment.  Two children, ages two and three, were present during the assault. Officers took a report and left the residence.

Two hours later in the day another 9-1-1 call was received from the apartment.  The operator could hear small children then the line disconnected.  The dispatcher called back several times however the calls went unanswered. Officers responded back to the apartment. When the officers arrived, they could hear voices inside but no one answered the door.

Officers saw the “peephole” darken and tried the door.  As the unlocked door was being opened, officers very loudly announced their intent and identification. The door was then pushed closed and locked.

Given the circumstances of the earlier call and the reported presence of firearms it was decided that the apartment would be contained and a SWAT callout would be initiated.

Shortly after the call was placed for SWAT, the female resident opened the door and came out with her children.  She told officers that the suspect was not there but her demeanor said otherwise.

Officers entered the apartment to clear it and did not find the suspect.  A sectional sofa in the living room, however, seemed far heavier than it should have been.  Officers tipped the sofa on its back and located the suspect fully concealed within a storage bin hidden in the sofa. He was arrested without incident.

During the clearing sweep officers found three firearms in plain view.  Notable was the positioning of the Sig in a bookcase in the living room.  It was less than four feet from the floor and reachable by the 3 year old girl.  The girl, in fact, pointed out all three locations where “Daddy” keeps his guns.  All firearms were taken into police custody pending DV charges.

The suspect was booked into King County Jail for DV Assault.

At approximately 1:09 a.m. officers responded to Northwest Hospital for the report of a man who arrived there with gunshot wounds to the chest and arm.  Preliminary investigation indicates that the 45-year-old male victim had met with three unknown adult male suspects for a narcotics transaction somewhere in the vicinity of North 92nd Street and Woodlawn Avenue North.  As they discussed the matter in and around the victim’s black Cadillac Escalade things did not go as planned.

One of the suspects produced a handgun and demanded the victim hand over his marijuana.  The victim did not cooperate and was shot twice.  All three suspects fled the scene on foot in an unknown direction and remain at large (the only suspect description available at this time is two black males and one Hispanic male, all adults).  None of the victim’s property was successfully taken during the altercation.

The victim fled the scene in his Cadillac and drove himself directly to the emergency room at Northwest Hospital for treatment of his non-life-threatening injuries.  From there he was transported to Harborview Medical Center for further treatment.

Anyone with information about this incident or who may know the identities or whereabouts of the suspects is asked to call 911 or the Seattle Police Robbery Unit at (206) 684-5535 and refer to this incident.  Anonymous tips are welcome.

This remains an active and on-going investigation.

The City Attorney’s Office has charged Rachel Nezat with two counts of property destruction and one count of criminal trespass in the first degree.  All counts are gross misdemeanors carrying a maximum penalty of one year in jail and $5,000.

A suspect robbed a Key Bank located in the 1900 Block of 1 Avenue South just before noon today.  Officers and detectives are currently investigating and searching for the suspect.

At 12:50 pm, officers responded to a report of a bank robbery at the Key Bank located on 1st Avenue South.  A suspect, described as a white male, approximately 6′ tall, thin, wearing a grey sweatshirt and large, dark sunglasses, light colored pants, and white tennis shoes robbed the bank and then fled on foot.

Below are images of the suspect.  If anyone has information on this case, please call 911.

The male used his hand to pound on the bus as if to stop it to allow him entry. The bus continued south and for an unknown reason the male fell into and/or was struck by the bus, causing a significant leg injury.

Seattle Fire Department (SFD) responded and treated the 42- year- old adult male pedestrian; he was transported to HMC via Medics with a serious, but non-life threatening leg injury.

At this time, TCI detectives have not yet determined which Metro coach struck the pedestrian; the investigation continues.