A home invasion robbery took place Wednesday night (Feb. 8th) around 10:19 p.m., where a group of three knocked on the door of a house in the 13500 block of 6th Ave SW in Burien (map below), forced their way inside, physically assaulted a female resident, stole her credit cards, Xbox, games, jewelry and finally her car before escaping, according to Burien Police Sgt. Henry McLauchlan.

We were first tipped to this crime by a neighbor of the victims, whose door was knocked on first by the suspects. The suspect asked him “is Patrick there?” before being told they had the wrong house. The neighbor was immediately suspicious of the stranger, who quickly walked away.

According to our source, whose story was corroborated by the police, the suspects then went to the next house on the same block, where they asked the female resident if her husband was home. When she said no, they forced their way inside and robbed her. While the neighbor did not witness the home invasion, by then he had called the Burien Police non-emergency line, where the dispatcher told him there was a robbery in progress next door (our source was unable to intervene, as the perps had escaped by then).

The three suspects were described as a tall, thin African-American male (who knocked on the door), a younger Hispanic boy, and a 40-ish, heavyset African-American woman who was “clearly the ringleader” according to the neighbor.

The victim, a smaller-framed East Indian woman, told her neighbor the following details:

• No weapons were visible during the robbery, although force was used and the victim was physically assaulted.
• At one point during the robbery, the female ringleader threatened to kill the victim with the cord of a wall charger.
• The young Hispanic boy continually apologized to the victim as he pilfered through her belongings.
• At one point the boy referred to the female ringleader as “Momma.”
• One of the stolen credit cards was attempted to be used at the AM/PM Mini-Mart on Ambaum and SW 136th around 3 a.m. Thursday morning.
• The victim was hosting a friend from out of the country, whose credit cards and cell phone were also stolen.

“We love the blog and we want to make the community aware,” said our source, who prefers to remain anonymous. “Do NOT answer your door, even in the middle of the day, if you don’t know who’s there. Also, get motion sensor lights, or a dog, and other deterrents.”

Sgt. McLauchlan concurs:

“If somebody knocks at your door and you don’t know who they are, don’t open the door – you can talk to them through the door. The best words of warning I can give are make sure you have a peephole, make sure you identify the people before you open the door, If they want to use your phone or they need help calling do not let them in your house – make the phone call for them, and if you have any suspicions about them call 911 immediately.”

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A Burien Police sergeant responded to a call at the Burien Library late Thursday afternoon after a confrontation involving a large group of young males threatened to escalate in the lobby.

According to Sgt. Henry McLauchlan, the group of young males entered the lobby looking for another kid they knew.

After finding him there, words were exchanged, the one youth was harassed and then, apparently fearing that he would be attacked by the others, allegedly threw a punch at a young male in front of him.

The sergeant who responded to the call observed a young male running from the scene and onlookers pointed him out as being involved in the confrontation. When ordered by the sergeant to stop, the kid then ran and additional police assistance was summoned.

The situation was quickly defused and the running youth was quickly detained. No arrests have been made as of yet but the investigation continues.

One librarian estimated the crowd in the lobby before the police arrived at about 60.

McLauchlan said it is unknown if the incident involved gang members or was influenced by gang activity. That also remains under investigation.

He added that Burien police, who reduced disruptive behavior around the building last summer, will again increase their presence there.

PREVIOUSLY: A mob of about 60 young people reportedly got into a fight in the lobby of the Burien Library/City Hall Building at Town Square late Thursday afternoon.

Several Burien Police officers and King County Sheriff’s deputies responded to incident.

There was no immediate report of arrests or injuries.

More to come.

“Someone cut the locks off of our storage container and stole camp stoves, backpacking tents, a Honda generator, food, and other items,” said Tod Bookless, Assistant Scoutmaster. “As you probably know, the Boy Scout organization is a 101-year old non-profit and all of the gear that was stolen is used by the local boys on campouts.”

If anyone knows anything about this crime, or has any leads on the stolen equipment, you are asked to call the Normandy Park Police Department non-emergency line at (206) 248-7600.

Read the full story here.

Police say that Sarah Yarborough was last seen alive on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 14, 1991, leaving her residence on her way to Federal Way High School to participate in a Dance Team competition

Yarborough was found dead on the school campus later that morning.

Witnesses saw a suspect and two versions of a suspect composite sketch have been distributed over the years:

Click image to see larger version.

DNA evidence was recovered from the scene.

Recently the suspect DNA profile was sent to Colleen Fitzpatrick, PhD, president of Identifinders International, for examination. Indentifinders International specializes in Forensic Genealogy in which an unidentified suspect DNA profile can be examined with the use of genealogy databases in an effort to identify the family name of the suspect.

Based on the analysis done on the suspect DNA profile in this case it has been learned that the suspect is a member of the extended family of Robert Fuller, who arrived in Salem Massachusetts in the 1630s. Robert Fuller is related to two Fullers who arrived in America on the Mayflower. The suspect may have the last name of Fuller.

At the time of the crime the suspect was described as:

• White male
• 20’s
• 5’10”- 6’00” tall
• Shoulder length dirty blonde/light brown hair
• Medium build
• Wearing a trench coat and dark pants.

If you have any information related to this cold case please call the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311.

Here are two recent reports:

BTB Reader Nicole Garnett sent in this report, along with these two pics:

“Last night (Saturday, Jan. 7) between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. my little brother and I were home alone and heard a crack.

We didn’t think anything of it but this morning when the sun was shining on the window we noticed a crack in the outer pane of it, and this bullet stuck inside.

We later found out that two other houses on my side of the street (164th in Burien) also got their windows shot at.

One of my neighbors has a security camera at his house and saw a white car with a very loud engine drive by and the passenger was shooting.

These three cases have already been reported to the police, but if anyone knows anything please report it to the police so we can catch these people!”

And Nancy Moore reports that her home in Three Tree Point was burglarized on Christmas night (Dec. 25):

“The front door was kicked in, with the door frame damaged…then our house was ransacked and the usual small stuff carted away for cash or drugs (laptops, jewelry, watches, etc.).

I suggest that when residents see any ‘suspicious types’ lurking around the neighborhood that they call 911 immediately.”

On at least one local neighborhood group forum, residents have also been alerting their neighbors about door-to-door salespeople canvassing neighborhoods. Here’s some info we gleaned from one discussion:

• Door-to-door sales are illegal in Burien. But if someone comes to your door “selling” something, they should have a visible ID.
• Police encourage residents who are wary of solicitors to not open their doors, get a good description of them (and car, including license plate numbers), then to call 911 (not the non-emergency number) if there is any suspicion.
• Oftentimes burglars will approach a home, knock on the front door, then if nobody answers, break in through a back door or window. They’ll even case entire neighborhoods and check multiple times over several days so they can steal more.
• As Nancy Moore pointed out, a strong door frame can prevent someone from kicking in your door.

We reached out to Burien Police Chief Scott Kimerer, as well as Sgt. Henry McLauchlan, but neither responded to our query.

Here’s an interactive crime map, which can also be found on our Crime page:

“An employee of the bakery had a dispute with the victim earlier in the week,” said Cindi West of the KCSO. “Last night the employee, the victim and several other people were at the bakery. The suspect, who is known to both the victim and the employee went to the bakery and confronted the victim about the earlier dispute. During the argument the suspect pulled out a handgun and shot the victim multiple times. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Police say that witnesses initially told the police it was a robbery because they feared the suspect would come back and retaliate.

The suspect was arrested at approximately 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning in the area of SW 116 and 1st Ave SW.

PREVIOUSLY: The King County Sheriff’s Office is reporting that a man is dead after being shot and killed during an attempted robbery at the Seattle Roll Bakery Shop in the 9800 block of 16th Ave SW in White Center early Wednesday morning (Dec. 28).

Police say that the shooting happened just after midnight at the bakery. Three employees were inside when a man entered and attempted to rob the 24-hour Vietnamese sandwich shop.

The victim, a man in his 20s, was shot twice and died at the scene. The other two employees were not hurt.

The shooting suspect, described as a 5’8″ man wearing a blue hoodie sweatshirt, blue jeans and gray Nike tennis shoes, fled the scene on foot and is still at large. He apparently also wore a black bandana over the lower half of his face.

Here’s a video report from KING5-TV:

If you have any information on this incident, you are asked to contact the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311.

PREVIOUSLY: The King County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in finding a suspect claiming to be an apartment manager, who entered an apartment in the 13700 block of 12 Ave SW in Burien Monday evening and attempted to sexually assault a 13-year old girl.

Police say that the victim had taken out the trash and was approached by a black male as she walked back to her apartment around 7 p.m. Monday night (Dec. 19). The suspect told her he was the apartment manager and needed to check the hot water tank.

The victim let the suspect into the apartment where he attempted to sexually assault her. During the incident the victim yelled for her 9-year old brother to call the police and the suspect fled on foot.

The suspect is described as a black male, 16-22 years old, with a shaved head or very short hair.

The apartment complex has regular uniformed security and all employees wear uniforms. The suspect is not believed to be an employee.

The Burien Police notified the apartment managers who in turn notified the complex residents.

“Detectives have been working all day on every avenue to try and identify this suspect,” said Burien Police Chief Scott Kimerer. “It is a high priority for us and the Sheriff’s Office.”

If you have any information related to this crime please call the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311.

We’ll let Reuben describe the incident in his own words:

Burien Robbery Alert!

My day just got really interesting. I almost! almost stopped a robbery of Bryn Karlberg’s across the street neighbor on Shorewood dr. SW Burien. They got away with a TV but not without me blocking them from backing out with my car, me reaching in, grabbing the steering wheel causing them to take out a small tree and finally the only joyful part of the experience was the beautiful right cross I delivered to the drivers jaw and hearing him yell “F**k,F**K!! as he drove away.

The 2 suspects-2 white males 21-25 years old. A Blue Mazda 626 license #572 ZXB.

The word in the neighborhood is these guys have been casing/stealing from this area for a while.

Any info can be sent to Deputy J.M. Hennessy King County Sheriff cell (206) 391-1606 case #11-274664.

If you know these boys please turn them in, If you see them call 911.

If I see them!, well, have you ever seen any Charles Bronson movies?

King County Prosecutor and local resident Dan Satterberg at the Oct. 21 press conference on the 'Operation Center of Attention' crime bust in White Center.

by Mark Neuman

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg stopped by the B-Town Blog office in Olde Burien for an interview recently, at our invitation.

We covered several topics, including Operation Center of Attention, the future of capital punishment in Washington state, the toughest decisions a prosecutor must make, and even George Harrison and the Beatles.

When we first sat down with Satterberg for an interview a couple of years ago (read it here), he made us laugh summarizing his days playing for the Highline High School football team as a teenager.

“We were a small team, but we were slow,” he recalled.

He got a similar chuckle this time around when we asked:  What advice do you have for anyone planning on committing a crime in King County?

“Go to Pierce County,” was Satterberg’s obviously tongue-in-cheek  response. He continued with a more serious completion of his answer.

“That’s my simple advice. We actually have a good, strong public safety system here even though we have all suffered cuts across the board. But we’re never too busy take one more case.”

Capital punishment and its future
We asked Satterberg to comment on the recent announcement by Oregon governor John Kitzhaber that executions will not happen there as long as Kitzhaber is governor.

“I think the death penalty as the ultimate punishment in Washington state is applied very carefully, obviously very slowly, and it’s also very expensive,” Satterberg told us.

“There are lots of reasons to have a philosophical debate about the morality of it or the effectiveness of it.

“A governor is free to, on an individual case, grant clemency and set aside a death penalty. But you know, the people (of Washington) should have this debate. I think I’d like to see the people vote on it every 10 years: ‘Do you still want to have the death penalty?’”

Holly Washa was murdered in 1991.

Witness to an execution
Satterberg recalled serving as a witness in 2010 in Walla Walla at the execution by lethal injection of Cal Brown, who had tortured, raped and murdered 22-year-old Holly Washa of Burien in 1991.

“I volunteered to be a witness. I wanted to sit with Holly’s family who came out from Nebraska to see that and just kind of be there. We said we’d be there together throughout that whole case. It was a very emotional time for them. But I think there was a sense of relief for them.

“Now they don’t have to worry about Cal Brown anymore. They made a commitment to Holly in their hearts. It (police work, trial and appeal process) went on for 19 years. So you could argue both sides of that.

“It was a relief for them. It was also, you could say, cruel and unusual to put the victim’s family through that much. But at the end, they would have said to you ‘We are glad we don’t have to think about Cal Brown anymore. He got what he deserved.’”

Crime is way down since 1980
“The interesting thing about crime in the state of Washington in the last 30 years is that it’s actually gone down dramatically,” Satterberg told us. “I think the same is true for North Highline and Burien as well.

“The statistics are kind of shocking and I don’t know how to explain it entirely. But it goes like this: since 1980, Part One crimes, meaning murder, rapes, robbery, burglary, car theft (but excluding drug crimes), has gone down 43 percent in the state of Washington.

“At that same time, the public investment in the infrastructure that fights crime, meaning courts, police, prosecutors, judges, public defenders, jails and prisons has increased about a hundred and twenty percent.

“I think we’re doing a better job of apprehending people who are ‘in the business’ of crime: serial burglars, serial car thieves, sex offenders and we get them earlier in the process and we send them to prison for longer sentences.”

Visiting lifers in prison
Satterberg, who has served as county prosecutor since the spring of 2007, spent an evening about a year ago with the Concerned Lifers group at the state prison in Monroe.

“I was a guest and I sat in a room with about 40 men who have been sentenced to life in prison,” Satterberg said. “I just really wanted to hear from them about the system, the criminal justice system they were unwilling participants in, and ideas for reform. It was a very, very meaningful night for me. I learned a lot.

“One of the things I learned was that there are a lot of thoughtful people in prison. And there is a lot of talent behind bars who’ve done terrible things, many of whom accept the fact that they took a life or multiple lives and they know they’re not getting out, they don’t deserve to get out but they still want to be able to give back to the community.

Dan greets one of the courthouse companions.

“And one of the things they want to be able to do is to have their stories to be a lesson for young people who are just now dabbling in crime: ‘Don’t do the things that I did that led me this way.’

“So we’re actually working with some of the offenders who have been released, some of the Three Strike Robbery Two defendants who’ve been granted clemency and finding appropriate ways for them to talk to first offenders in the juvenile system.”

Tough and controversial decisions
“One of the great things about being prosecutor is that you have a lot of tough decisions and sometimes they’re internal. Who do I hire? Do I need to let somebody go? We have almost five hundred employees,” Satterberg said.

“I guess the thing that people need to know is that our office is full of really good, smart, caring, dedicated people who at some sacrifice to compensation decided to work for the public, and they love representing the people and they love coming to work and doing the right thing.

“In the last three-and-a-half years we have lost some 50 positions in our office: 36 prosecutors and 15 staff. So I had to make some tough decisions that have really kept me up at night.

“On the professional side we make death penalty decisions regularly and we decide whether we’re going to accept a plea to something less than charged. We evaluate cases and you have to make decisions on a regular basis.”

End of Part One.
Be sure to check back to The B-Town Blog tomorrow for Part Two.