By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Seattle PI
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Police say the man on the right vandalizing Niketown in a pair of
Nike shoes has been identified as a 27-year-old Seattle man.
Investigators, who were tipped by two people who provided his name and
address, say they have clear evidence of him causing damage in downtown
Seattle on May Day. But his case has not been forwarded to prosecutors.
Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said Aug. 9 it's still an active investigation.
Seattlepi.com does not typically name suspects until they're charged.
Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO
/ SEATTLEPI.COM
A bandana, a pair of Nikes, a sex offender's chat with his corrections officer and tips from the public.
All have led police to narrow the search for those they say are responsible for the
Seattle May Day violence.
Recently released police reports detail the investigation thus far.
The detectives' statements also show just the cost of the May 1 riot.
Niketown repairs totaled $52,825.74; the Wells Fargo bank at Fourth
Avenue and Seneca Street had at least $25,978.13 in damage and a Verizon
Wireless store had $1,905.30 in damage.
Several other businesses, including American Apparel, Home Street
Bank and Bank of America had thousands of dollars in damage. Damage to
city property and the old federal courthouse also cost tens of
thousands of dollars.
Police say one suspect was identified after her sex offender
boyfriend admitted to his corrections officer he was at the protest.
Investigators said the pair was photographed during the
demonstration, though prosecutors have yet to charge either. Because the
sex offender acknowledged being at the protest as a street medic
and because he had red paint spatter on his clothing, "it is reasonable
to believe he was either present or involved with the property damage," a
detective wrote in a search warrant affidavit.
An initial search of their bedroom turned up a bandana and backpack
matching the description of the one worn by the girlfriend during the
May Day riot, according the recently released search documents. A
bandana and backpack were among items taken later that day after Seattle
police received the warrant.
A separate suspect who had his residence searched weeks later – a man
who allegedly wore Nikes while shattering a Niketown window – was
identified after two people who knew details about him called police on
the May Day tip line, according to the recently released
public documents.
With that information, investigators say they verified his address from previous contacts with the suspect.
During a search of his residence, police say they confiscated a pair
of Nikes they suspect the 27-year-old man wore while damaging the
downtown Seattle Niketown. It was one of at least three searches in
Seattle related to the May Day investigation.
Though some of the May Day vandalism suspects have been charged in
federal court King County Superior Court, none of the suspects
affiliated with three recent searches have had their cases forwarded
to prosecutors.
"This is still very much an active and ongoing investigation," Sgt.
Sean Whitcomb said Thursday, noting there are additional suspects police
are investigating. "Our task force with several detectives is still in
place and we are working diligently to identify all those responsible
for crimes during May Day and hold them responsible."
The first of the three known Seattle police searches was May 24 at
the sex offender's Shoreline home, where his girlfriend also was. The
second search was June 15 in Ballard at the Niketown suspect's
residence, and the third was July 10 at the Judkins Park rental home of
at least one other suspect.
While some details of those searches have been reported, several
details of what exactly led police to those homes and how specifically
they gained authorization for the searches have not been.
Corrections officer helped identify suspect
During the first search on May 24, police were looking for clothing
and clear plastic goggles they think the registered sex offender wore
during the May Day violence.
That man pleaded guilty to communications with a minor for immoral purposes in September.
Investigators say footage reviewed by the May Day Task Force shows
his girlfriend throwing a projectile at police, which hits an officer in
the head before deflecting onto the head of another officer.
Law enforcement officers familiar with the sex offender's case recognized that 21-year-old woman, police documents show.
The man's corrections officer reported searching a bedroom dresser
and finding a black bandana that appeared to be the one worn by the
woman during the officer attack. A backpack the girlfriend also wore
that day was also inside the home, according to police.
Detectives took their case to a Superior Court judge who reviewed
police statements and photos of both the sex offender and his girlfriend
allegedly at the May Day protest before authorizing the search. Police
seized a black jacket, a backpack, black pants with red paint, two pair
of goggles, two bandanas and a green sweatshirt.
Police: Vandalism suspect wore Nikes at Niketown
The 27-year-old man who police say wore a pair of Nike's while
vandalizing Niketown was known to officers for multiple previous
contacts, according to investigation documents.
On July 12, 2011, he was suspected of shoplifting from a Ballard
7-Eleven, but was never charged. The following September, the man was a
passenger in a young woman's BMW when it was involved in a
Magnolia crash.
The third incident was Oct. 16 when police say the man, who was with
other Occupy Seattle protestors at Westlake Park, shoved an officer in
the chest and fled. He also was not charged in that incident.
But investigation documents show two people spoke to Seattle police
on the May Day tip line, giving the man's name and details about
his home.
Investigators say video shows the suspect, who wore a purple
undershirt and black jeans, running from the crowd to damage a Niketown
window. They also report having footage of him jumping on the rear
window of a car during the riot, frightening the driver.
"Multiple photographs of (the suspect) were obtained using various
databases/sources and after reviewing the images I can say with
certainty (he) is the subject seen in the video and still images located
by the May Day task force damaging property throughout the downtown
shopping district of Seattle,"
Detective Wes Friesen wrote in an investigation document.
Detectives say he also was seen striking a Bank of America window
with a garbage can lid. The suspect failed to break that window, but
another person spray painted an anarchist symbol on the bank. Later
footage shows the Nike-clad suspect shattering a window at the Verizon
Wireless store near Sixth Avenue and Olive Way, police say.
A King County Superior Court judge approved a search of his three-bedroom Ballard home.
Police seized a purple shirt form his bedroom, black jeans, two
purple scarves, alleged anarchist solidarity paperwork, a backpack, two
belts, a notebook, a Washington driver's license and an envelope with
the suspect's address.
Police say they also took the pair of black Nike's with red spots he's suspected of wearing while vandalizing Niketown.
Third search
During the May Day riots, the third suspect who had his home searched
kicked an officer in the way "that someone would do when trying to blow
out a knee," Friesen wrote in an investigation document. The
23-year-old man allegedly kicked the officer as his attention was
directed to a hostile crowd and investigators believe it was done to
cause significant injury.
"There are multiple images of (the suspect) throughout the day's
events on 05-01-2012 attempting to change/alter his identity by using
different variations of his clothing," Friesen wrote. "It should be
noted that multiple detectives reviewed a very large quantity of footage
and at no time was any other subject seen wearing the unique clothing
that (the suspect) was seen wearing."
That 23-year-old is believed to have fled from American Apparel wearing black goggles, police said.
Police authorized surveillance from outside the suspect's home in Judkins Park more than two weeks before their June search.
Investigation documents show the items seized during the July 10
search were: black goggles, a black sweatshirt with white strings, a
pink scarf, a notebook, a black bandana, a back stocking hat, paperwork
about anarchists in the occupy movement, a black glove and paperwork
about a strike on May 1.
A blog report about the search by The Dissenter said the sweatshirt
belonged to the suspect's girlfriend and a pamphlet taken was something
that could have been picked up at any Occupy action. That blog also
reported a pair of sunglasses was taken, but that is not listed in the
search warrant return, which is a public document.
The Stranger spoke to one of the men at the Judkins Park residence
when it was searched, and the search warrant return shows four people
were present that day. Read the Stranger account
here.
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