Armed sheriff's deputies assigned to transit tunnel
Two weeks after a 15-year-old girl punched and stomped another teen girl in the downtown transit tunnel as unarmed security guards and bystanders watched, the tunnel could well become the safest place in Seattle.
By
Christine Clarridge and
Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporters
Two weeks after a 15-year-old girl punched and stomped another teen girl in the downtown transit tunnel as unarmed security guards and bystanders watched, the tunnel could well become the safest place in Seattle.
In response to the attack, the King County Sheriff's Office on Thursday began posting armed deputies at all five stations within the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, according to spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart.
Also Thursday, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn issued a statement saying the city was exploring whether to use uniformed Seattle police officers to also patrol the tunnel until a longer-term solution is in place.
"These new measures will assure transit customers of a police presence that meets their expectations for safety and security in the bus tunnel," said County Executive Dow Constantine.
Even before the new security measures were announced, Kevin Desmond, general manager for King County Metro Transit, said he was discussing contract changes with Olympic Security that would allow its guards to act beyond its current orders to only "observe and report" illegal activity.
The enhanced security measure was sparked by the release of a surveillance video showing a teenage girl kicking, punching and stomping on a 15-year-old girl Jan. 28 on the Westlake Station tunnel platform while unarmed security guards watched.
It was "not only troubling but unacceptable to see images of uniformed security officers standing by and taking no action while someone is being beaten and robbed," McGinn said in a statement Thursday.
Laird Harris, a spokesman for Olympic Security, said the additional security measures will give Olympic and Metro time to reach new work rules and improve training.
"My guess is the security guards would be glad to have police officers in there on a regular basis," he said.
Four people have been charged in the attack, including the alleged assailant who pleaded not guilty Thursday to first-degree robbery in King County Juvenile Court. The three other suspects are adult males.
Police account differs
Meanwhile, Seattle police provided an account of the moments leading up to the tunnel attack that sharply differed from the victim's.
According to charging documents, she told King County sheriff's investigators that Seattle police failed to protect her from the alleged assailant and the other suspects in the hour before the attack.
In her Feb. 5 statement, she said she approached two Seattle officers several times to seek help before she and a friend walked down to the tunnel. But she claimed the officers refused to help her even though she told them the members of the other group were threatening her and "trying to fight me."
According to her statement, she said the officers refused to walk her into the tunnel.
Police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said the girl's account differs with what officers reported. They characterized the situation between the two groups as "a roving, verbal dispute."
"If there were any threats, we were not told of them," he said. He said the foot-patrol officers had no authority to make any arrests because during their contacts with the two groups, no crimes were committed.
Had the officers witnessed any laws being broken, they "would've been able to take more decisive action — it's their job to keep the peace," Whitcomb said.
"They did everything in their authority to separate these parties and they did everything they could to allow the victim a chance to leave the area."
In a statement written by Seattle police Officer Matthew Chase, the girl first contacted him and his partner about an hour before the beating, saying "several other kids were following her and her friends."
Police advised her to leave the area and go home, according to the officer's statement.
Fracas in store
During the second contact, officers were called to Macy's, where the victim and suspects "were yelling at each other and disturbing other customers."
This time, the officers warned the victim, as well as members of the other group, to leave and go home.
About a half-hour later, Chase wrote, the two groups were involved in yet another "disturbance" in Westlake Plaza on Pine Street.
The beating in the tunnel occurred a short time after the third altercation between the two groups, according to the officer's statement.
According to the officer's statement, the victim told police "that she had a history with the attackers and had pepper-sprayed one of them the previous year."
However, in her written statement to sheriff's investigators, the girl said she did not know her attackers but recognized them as "friends of friends."
The suspect's mother, who appeared with her 15-year-old daughter in court Thursday, said that while the video is horrifying to watch, it doesn't tell the whole story.
She claimed her daughter had been assaulted by the other girl numerous times over the past two years that left her with bruises and blackened eyes.
The 15-year-old is not being named because she is charged as a juvenile.
Nicole Calvin and Shayla Ackley — 16-year-old friends of the suspects — said that not only did the victim know all of the suspects, she had dated one of them. Calvin said the victim used to date her brother, 18-year-old Dominique Whitaker, one of the young men charged with first-degree robbery in the attack.
If convicted as charged, the 15-year-old female suspect and the three adult males could face sentences that range from two to four years in juvenile detention or prison, prosecutors said.
The two other men charged with first-degree robbery in the attack are Latroy Hayman, 20, and Tyrone Watson, 18. Prosecutors said they stole the victim's purse, iPod and cellphone after they flew out of her hands during the fight.
Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or [email protected]
Seattle Times staff reporters Mike Lindblom and Brian Rosenthal contributed to this report
