30 days for boy who killed woman he mistook for bear

By TRICIA MANNING-SMITH / KING 5 News

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. – A 15-year-old boy found guilty of second-degree manslaughter for shooting and killing a woman he mistook as a bear will spend 30 days in juvenile detention.

According to investigators, Tyler Kales, who was 14 at the time, was bear hunting with his older brother Aug. 2, 2008 on Sauk Mountain in rural Skagit County, near Rockport.

He says in the fog that shrouded the mountain that day, he mistook 54-year-old Pamela Almli for a bear and fired a shot. The bullet struck her in the head, killing her.

Kales was found guilty last month of second-degree manslaughter. The judge acquitted him of first-degree manslaughter, finding he did not act recklessly However, the judge said firing on an outline in the fog from 150 yards away wasn’t a hunting accident.

“You ignored and broke all the rules handling a gun,” said Gail Blacker, Almli’s sister, at Kales’ sentencing Thursday.

Almli was hiking with a friend on the Sauk Mountain trail when Kales’ bullet hit her.

“Imagine the horror of a friend killed before your eyes,” said Blacker.

Now, Almli's relatives struggle to answer her preschool-age grandkids’ difficult questions about the killing.

“(He) wants to get in his Buzz Lightyear outfit and fly to heaven and bring grandma back,” said Carrie Almli, Pamela’s daughter-in-law.

Kales also spoke before his sentencing.

“I can’t imagine what they go through every day or how they feel,” said Kales, with his voice trembling. “All I want to say is how sorry I am and hope they can forgive me.”

In addition to the juvenile detention, Kales will serve 12 months under supervision with counseling and perform 120 hours of community service. Forty of those hours must be spent teaching others about hunter safety.

The shooting compelled some to push for stricter gun laws in Washington state and others wanted new signs at trailheads to warn hikers of the danger. The Department of Fish and Wildlife says neither has happened.

Bear hunting season in most of Western Washington begins again Aug. 1.

Police shoot, kill man in northeast Spokane

Jim Camden / The Spokesman-Review

Spokane Police shot and killed a man after he stabbed an officer this morning in northeast Spokane, witnesses say.

The shooting, shortly before 9 a.m., occurred after police received reports of a man trying to break into one residence, then assaulting a woman after breaking into another residence, where he also stabbed a dog, according to investigators from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department.

The female officer who was stabbed is being treated at a local hospital, and the injured resident was taken to Holy Family Hospital. Investigators have not yet revealed their conditions. SpokAnimal is searching for the dog, a black pit bull, who ran away after being stabbed.

The events occurred over several blocks west-southwest of the Northeast Community Center, said Sgt. Dave Reagan, sheriff’s department spokesman.

The first call to police was from a woman in the 1200 block of East Gordon. She reported that a man with a skateboard was trying to kick in her door but had left without gaining entry.

Several minutes later, police received a report from the 1300 block of East Glass, where a woman said she had been hit by an intruder with a skateboard.

Michael Baesman was asleep in the basement of the house when he heard Tara Tanner, 34, yelling, “Michael, Michael, please come help me. There’s someone in the house.”

Baesman said when he got upstairs, a man he had never seen before pulled out a large knife, possibly a butcher or kitchen knife.

The man never said anything, even after Baesman asked what he was doing.

Baesman said he, Tanner and two others who were in the home ran into the fenced backyard.

When they tried to climb the fence, it broke and Tanner fell, cutting her leg, Baesman said.

While she was on the ground, the assailant beat her several times with his skateboard, Baesman said.

A black female pit bull then ran toward the assailant, who stabbed her in the back, according to owner Vince Smith, who is Tanner’s son and was one of the occupants of the house. He said Molly, who has white on her neck and chest, ran away. “I’m just hoping she’s all right,” Smith said.

The assailant then ran about five blocks down Courtland Avenue, just west of Napa, where police tried to stop a man walking down the street carrying a skateboard and a knife, Reagan said.

After the man stabbed the policewoman, officers shot him several times, Baesman said.

Investigators don’t yet know the man’s identity or age.

Details of the series of incidents are still unfolding. “It’s been kind of a crazy event,” Reagan said.

Al Piper, who lives with his wife about two blocks from where police confronted the suspect, said they heard a noise that sounded like firecrackers about 8:30 a.m. “The dogs went wild,” Piper said.

Candy Reichman, who lives across street from where the man was shot, said she was sitting in her living room and talking on the phone when she heard loud noises that she assumed were gunshots.

“I opened my front door and saw the body and hoped it was a Taser” that caused him to be on the ground, Reichman said.

Because it was an officer-involved shooting, Spokane police invoked the protocol that turns over the investigation to the sheriff’s department.

Get more news and information at Spokesman.com

Fore: Assault with six-iron on golf course gets man 21-month sentence

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
SEATTLEPI.COM

KENT -- The first meeting between the men came on the Auburn Golf Course a year ago.

That incident, in which Nicholas Shampine bludgeoned James Compton with a six-iron on the 14th green, led to a conviction for second-degree assault.

Thursday morning, a judge sentenced Shampine to 21 months in jail -- the maximum term for his crime.

Shampine told King County Superior Court Judge Deborah Fleck he needed to protect his brother, who, with two others from their foursome that day, were fighting with Compton's foursome on the 14th green.

Compton was mean that day, Shampine said, and the incident was not one-sided.

"I can't even talk to him so I can't tell him I'm sorry, but I am," Shampine told the judge.

With that, Fleck allowed another encounter under much different circumstances.

Shampine, trying to hold back tears, hesitated when he first looked to Compton, sitting two rows behind the prosecutor.

Shampine sobbed as he told Compton's wife, Randy, he couldn't imagine what she went through.

"I'm not doing it for their pity," Shampine said, as his own wife wept behind him. "Ten years down the road, 20 years down the road, I'll still say the same thing -- that I'm sorry for what I put you through. And I'm sorry for what he's going through."

Randy Compton watched with her arms crossed. Her husband looked at the floor.

Earlier, James Compton had told the judge he can't remember simple things. He has headaches that make him constantly vomit.

"I no longer go to see friends or family or take my wife out to dinner because I no longer feel safe in public," he said.

His wife said the worst part was when a neurologist at Harborview Medical Center couldn't guarantee Compton would survive a surgery.

The assault happened one Sunday afternoon last July. A foursome that included Compton, his two stepsons and another man called the pro shop to complain about a foursome playing too slowly ahead of them.

That group included Shampine, his father, brother, and a family friend.

Shampine's group reportedly volunteered to let Compton's group play through. But a course staff member said it wouldn't help with several groups in front of them.

Shampine's brother, Greg, told the Seattle P-I last year that on the 13th green, someone from Compton's group yelled several times during their friend's backswing.

"They were screwin' with us," Greg Shampine toldcolumnist Jim Moore. "I'm never rude to anybody, but once somebody is rude to me, the gloves are off."

Compton's group was told to "shut the (expletive) up." Their argument continued as the Shampine foursome approached the 15th tee, and Compton's group was on the 14th green.

More words were exchanged, then bad went to worse.

Nicholas Shampine saw what he described as a wrestling match and told Moore two members of Compton's foursome were on both sides of his brother. He said he wanted to protect him.

"I though that my brother was in trouble and, you know, I just, I snapped," prosecutors say Shampine told police. "I just walked towards him, and I just hit him with the club."

Compton, then 45, had a broken cheekbone, skull fracture and a subdural hematoma.

Shampine's defense attorney, Scott Saeda, noted his client has no previous criminal history and asked for a 12-month sentence. He did not go to the course planning to hurt Compton, he said, but did to avoid a larger fight when Shampine thought his brother would be hurt.

Prosecutor Dan Soukup said it was disingenuous to say Shampine just snapped. He, like the victim, asked for the maximum term. Fleck said using a golf club like a baseball bat was not a warranted response in the situation.

Shampine's sentence also includes 18 to 36 months in community custody. Saeda said a final decision hasn't been made, but that they will probably appeal.

Fleck told Shampine that while he can pay his price and move on, he won't have brain damage or emotional changes that keep him from everyday enjoyment of life.

"In my view," Fleck said, "Mr. Compton and his family won't have that opportunity."

Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com

At-large teen charged in alleged attacks

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

A 16-year-old girl was charged Monday with two counts of third-degree assault for attacking two women in SeaTac last month. Deputies say her pit bull also joined the attacks.

But deputies who have been searching for her since last week can't find her, and an arrest warrant has been issued. The girl also was charged with one count of being a minor in possession of liquor.

Authorities have checked her home address, but no one has answered the door when deputies have been there.

"And we've been there several times," King County Sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said. "The best thing the mother can do is have her daughter turn herself in."

If convicted, the sentence range is up to 90 days in detention with up to 450 hours of community service and up to three years of probation.

"Because of the seriousness of the case, the King County Prosecutor's Office intends to seek an exceptional sentence above the standard sentence range if she is convicted," spokesman Dan Donohoe said.

Seattlepi.com is not naming the defendant because she's a juvenile.

On the evening of June 21, a woman stopped at a Burien gas station, where she said she saw a pit bull being abused by the girl and three other juvenile boys, according to court documents.

When the woman told her not to kick the dog, the girl allegedly swore at her and said, "I can do what I want." Deputies say she got in the face of the woman's husband and swore at him as well.

Later that evening in the 13300 block of Des Moines Memorial Drive South in SeaTac, another woman stopped and asked the group if they were OK. She later told police that she also saw the children kicking the pit bull.

"The young black female in the group went up to (the woman) and said 'Get out of here bitch this is none of your business,'" according to court documents.

When the woman said she could call the police and grabbed her cell phone, prosecutors say the girl yanked open the passenger door of the woman's car and started beating her about the head with her own phone.

The woman ran from her car, but the teen ran after her, "beating her all over the head, neck shoulders and back" -- even pulling out her hair, according to court documents.

A man ran up and announced he'd called police, who were on their way.

"Bitch it's my dog and I can kill it if I want, I can do what I want to," the teen responded, according to court documents.

Deputies say the pit bull then attacked the woman who was beaten.

Another woman who was driving by with her daughter reported seeing the incident and advised the teen girl to wait and explain what happened to police.

"The female then attacked (the woman), getting her on the ground and punching her in the face and head," according to a probable cause document. There was a second attack on the woman moments later and deputies say the teen girl again got the woman on the ground before the dog attacked her on both arms.

Both women who were beaten at the SeaTac scene were hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center.

The woman attacked with the cell phone had bruises on both eye sockets and lacerations on her left arm where deputies could see tissue and bone.

The teen girl was treated at Highline Medical Center. Deputies believe she was injured from beating the woman.

A King County Sheriff's sergeant had contacted the teens earlier that night at the Burien gas station, warning the teen girl about playing rough with the animal. She said the dog would only attack a burglar or someone in her home and that her dog was licensed.

King County Animal Control records show a registration for the pit bull, Snaps, expired March 31.

That sergeant responded to the second assault report and recognized the group. He also noticed the dog was not muzzled -- something that's required by SeaTac law and that he had warned them to do.

Deputies said the teen girl, who had blood on her face, admitted beating both women and allowing her pit bull to join in the attack. The sergeant noted that "the entire story was told with no emotion for the injuries sustained," according to the probable cause document. "She just spit it out without any questions or follow-up from the officers."

A deputy, who detailed repeated vulgar language in the teen's statement, reported finding two unopened bottles of Mad Dog 20/20, a fortified wine, in her backpack.

The girl, who turned 16 late last month, was released to her mother so she could seek medical treatment. The mother told the sergeant she was the owner of the pit bill. Deputies said other juveniles were uncooperative when asked for identification.

Deputies said the dog was not violent toward them, and they transferred him to King County Animal Control. The pit bull remained at a King County shelter Monday night.

"The other juveniles are not considered suspects," Prosecutor's Office spokesman Dan Donohoe said.

The teen girl's arraignment is scheduled for July 14 in juvenile court.

Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com. Follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/caseymcnerthney.

Men allegedly use rope, Buick to drag a bull

KOMO-TV STAFF

Two men are under arrest for using a rope and a Buick to drag a bull along a King County road Sunday afternoon.

Several 911 calls came flooding in around 4:30 from witnesses reporting a 1989 Buick Century was "dragging a cow with a rope" in the 4200 block of S. Star Lake Road near Auburn, said Sgt. John Urquhart with the King County Sheriff's Department.

When deputies arrived, they found the car with a rope around the bull's neck and tied around the car's window frame. The bull was lying flat on its stomach, with all four legs bloodied and spread outward.

Witnesses reported the bull was obviously in distress, strongly resisting as it was pulled down the street causing hoof and leg injuries, until it collapsed where deputies found it, Urquhart said.

The driver, 75-year-old Jonas Arnbrister, and 57-year-old passenger Terrance Neff told deputies they were moving the bull to another pasture and they always used the car-dragging method because "he is stubborn."

The passenger said the bull wasn't hurt and told the deputy, "You have to be like that with cows."

Urquhart says the bull finally stood up, obviously in pain, and was moved to a grassy shoulder.

Investigators determined based on the drag marks, the bull was dragged for about a half mile. They found one streak of blood stretched nearly 20 feet.

The bull was given pain medication and turned over to the Washington State Animal Response Team for safekeeping.

Both men were booked into the King County Jail for investigation of first-degree animal cruelty. Neff is being held on $15,000 bail while Arnbrister is being held on $10,000. Their next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.

Officer dragged 50 feet by fleeing car

KOMO-TV STAFF

A police officer was dragged about 50 feet through a parking lot early Saturday when a car suddenly took off in reverse as the officer was trying to prevent the driver from escaping.

The incident took place just before 2 a.m. when the officer spotted the suspect driving recklessly through downtown in a blue Honda.

The officer pulled over the driver, who steered his car into a parking lot near First Avenue and Lenora Street.

As the officer got out to make contact with the driver, the Honda suddenly sped by the officer toward the parking lot's only exit, but the driver was blocked in by another patrol car.

The officer ran up and grabbed the driver to prevent his escape, but the driver suddenly reversed the car, dragging the officer about 50 feet.

The Honda struck a parked car, enabling the officer to disengage from the vehicle. The suspect then drove past the other patrol vehicle and fled the scene.

The suspect is still at large, and an investigation continues.

The officer was taken to an area hospital for an exam. He was sent home, suffering back pains.

Suicide of defendant ends rape case; jurors say he was guilty

By LEVI PULKKINEN
SEATTLEPI.COM

Accused of raping a woman at knifepoint in her Wallingford home, Sankarandi Skanda will never face a jury's verdict or a judge's sentence.

Five weeks after his trial began, Skanda, 36, was found dead Friday in a King County Jail cell. It was apparently a suicide by hanging.

Skanda acted as his own attorney throughout the proceeding, arguing that a bizarre set of circumstances had led to him being falsely accused in the October attack. Jurors were robbed of their chance to deliberate on his allegations but, following the case's formal dismissal Monday morning, several said they had no doubt of his guilt.

"Guilty, guilty, guilty," juror Alice Sieger said when asked how she would have ruled. "He had no credibility and his story ... just didn't make any sense."

Born Franklin Antill until changing his name after converting to Hinduism, Skanda stood accused of breaking into a Wallingford woman's home and sexually assaulting her. At trial, the woman told jurors Skanda raped her at knifepoint while her children were in a nearby room.

Prosecutors had argued that Skanda fled the house following the attack with several valuables. He was arrested at a Snohomish County Wal-Mart after an alert security manager allegedly caught him using a credit card stolen during the attack.

Skanda said he had been targeted either because his alleged victim hoped police coming to her aid would shoot her husband, or because authorities were upset with his plans to open an Ecstasy-fueled sex church.

Despite his inability to offer any supporting evidence, Skanda had contended that the woman had hired him to kill her husband. That claim and others were rejected by jurors out of hand.

In one of the most unsettling turns in what had already proved to be a disturbing trial, Skanda questioned his alleged victim as she sat in the witness stand. Skanda violated several court rulings in trying to put forward a defense unsupported by the evidence.

Most concerning, though, was the apparent pleasure he took in forcing the 35-year-old mother of two to relive the night of the attack.

As he had during an 1998 attack on another woman after breaking out of an Idaho prison, Skanda appeared to be "soaking in the terror," said senior deputy prosecutor Sean O'Donnell, speaking alongside co-counsel Julie Kays and Seattle Police Detective Chris Young.

"He chose to represent himself so he could relive that night of terror at her home," said Kays, a senior deputy prosecutor. "Regrettably, the system allowed him to do it again."

While Kays and O'Donnell agreed that, under law, Skanda did have the right to question his accuser, both said they'd support a change in state law barring the accused attacker from questioning a victim in sex assault cases. Assisting defense counsel could conduct that questioning.

The three changes against Skanda were dismissed Monday, and the jury was released.

The investigation into his death continues.

Suspect charged in SeaTac SUV theft and police chase

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

A man who deputies say stole a Cadillac Escalade last month from a family unloading luggage at SeaTac International Airport was charged Thursday with motor vehicle theft, attempting to elude a police vehicle and two counts of first-degree malicious mischief.

Anthony Craig Martin, 36, led King County Sheriff's deputies on a chase that one described as "one of the most reckless and dangerous I have witnessed."

And on top of it all, deputies say Martin was driving on a suspended license.

The evening of June 13, detectives from a King County Sheriff's Burien Street Crimes Team saw the silver Cadillac when it passed northbound in the 14000 block of First Avenue South.

They noticed the glass portion of the tailgate hanging open.

"I thought this was odd and remember asking my partners, 'Who would drive around with the back hatch open?' only to follow up with, "Probably someone who just stole it from baggage claim," Detective Todd Morrell wrote in a probable-cause document.

They followed the Cadillac and got behind it near South 136th Street and Des Moines Memorial Drive South. About the same time detectives said they matched part of the plate, the vehicle's OnStar program tracked the vehicle in that same area.

At South 156th and Des Moines Memorial Drive South, three marked patrol cars pulled behind the Escalade. A detective pulled ahead of the SUV in attempts to cut it off.

"As we pulled in front of the Escalade, I watched the driver looking directly at our vehicle," Morrell wrote. "The Escalade accelerated rapidly and rammed the front right quarter panel of our vehicle in an obvious attempt to flee the scene."

Deputies say Martin fled at more than 100 mph and patrol cars were losing ground.

"I watched as the Escalade traveled in the oncoming lane of traffic and continually swerved in between the southbound and northbound lanes of (Des Monies Memorial Drive South) to pass slower moving traffic," Morrell wrote.

The pursuit continued until the Escalade became stuck in traffic at South 152nd Street, where police say Martin deliberately backed into a deputy's vehicle. The pursuit continued onto state Route 518 and southbound Interstate 5, where police say Martin allegedly went an estimated 125 mph.

Deputies said Martin drove the wrong way on the South 188th Street southbound I-5 onramp and turned east on South 188th Street. Near South 188th Street and Orillia Road, the vehicle went across a northbound I-5 onramp before being blocked by a marked patrol car and went into a ditch.

Police thought the chase was over, but Morrell "saw the Escalade launch out of the ditch and actually become partially airborne," according to the probable cause document. His partner reported veering to avoid a head-on collision with Martin.

The Cadillac then drove over the hood of another patrol car and flipped, deputies said.

Detectives pulled Martin out of the burning vehicle and arrested him. Martin provided a blood sample after a DUI enforcement deputy said he had probable cause for drunken driving.

The Department of Corrections has sentenced him to two years in prison after revoking his sentence in a different case. Martin faces a sentence range of 43 to 57 months in prison on the charges filed Thursday.

He was convicted of possessing a stolen vehicle and attempted to elude in 2007 -- both felonies. Martin also has felony convictions for taking a motor vehicle without permission, attempted theft of a vehicle, a drug charge and three felony theft convictions, according to court documents.

His non-felony criminal history includes three convictions attempted forgery, criminal trespass, obstructing, DUI, three theft convictions and drug possession.

According to Morrell's statement, if not for the decisive action by officers to end the pursuit, "Martin "very likely would have collided with an innocent motorist and/or pedestrian."

Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com.

King County Jail inmate dead from apparent suicide

By SCOTT GUTIERREZ
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

An inmate was found dead early Friday in the King County Jail, apparently after hanging himself in his cell, according to county officials.

The inmate, a 36-year-old man booked Oct. 29 on suspicion of first-degree rape, was discovered at 2:26 a.m, according to officials. The King County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet identified him or the cause of death.

"It appears to be a suicide at this point, but the Medical Examiner still has to do an autopsy and that won't be completed until Monday," said Maj. William Hayes, a county corrections spokesman.

Corrections officers, who discovered him during a routine security check, attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Hayes said.

The inmate's death will be investigated, which is standard for all in-custody deaths. He was the second inmate to die in custody in a month. On June 4, Joseph Demmert, who was booked on a warrant for failing to appear in Municipal Court, died at Harborview Medical Center. The Medical Examiner's Office has not yet determined his cause of death.

"Obviously, it's not good for the person who passes and it traumatizes those who have to come upon it and have to deal with these things when they occur," Hayes said.

Earlier this year, King County agreed in a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to address several civil rights issues uncovered by an investigation that found lacking medical care, poor suicide prevention measures and insufficient safeguards against inmate abuse. The Justice Department is still monitoring the jail's progress.

"They are still here and I'm sure they'll be talking to us about this case," Hayes said.

Scott Gutierrez can be reached at 206-448-8334 or scottgutierrez@seattlepi.com.

Strip club boss Colacurcio, son and others indicted

By LEVI PULKKINEN and SCOTT GUTIERREZ
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

One year after police raided his businesses, Northwest strip club mogul Frank Colacurcio Sr. and his son, Frank Colacurcio Jr., and four others have been indicted by a grand jury on allegations that they promoted prostitution inside their clubs.

In an indictment returned a week ago and unsealed Tuesday, federal authorities accuse the Colacurcios and their associates of racketeering, using interstate commerce to facilitate prostitution, money laundering and mail fraud. At issue are allegations that the strip clubs -- Rick's in Seattle, Sugar's in Shoreline, Honey's in Everett and Fox's in Tacoma -- were used as fronts for prostitution and allegedly garnered the men $25 million in the past four years.

The indictment follows a years-long investigation that culminated last June in raids by Seattle police and federal agents on Colacurcio-owned clubs in King and Pierce counties, including Talents West, a Colacurcio-owned agency that hires strippers for the clubs. Also hit was Rick's club in Lake City, which remained a frequent target of law enforcement vice investigations.

Speaking Tuesday, Seattle U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sullivan said federal prosecutors have interviewed more than 200 witnesses, and reviewed hours of recorded phone calls, surveillance video and intercepts from listening devices placed in several Colacurcio businesses.

"These men made millions of dollars exploiting young women," Sullivan said. "These girls were not paid to dance, they paid to dance."

Key to the prosecutors' case, according to court documents, is the payment scheme in which strippers paid $75 to $130 in daily "rent" to the Colacurcio businesses. Such an arrangement is common in Washington strip clubs, which are not allowed to sell liquor to generate profit.

Sullivan contended that managers at the Colacurcio-associated clubs were more intent on payment from the dancers, and created a situation in which some were forced to prostitute themselves to pay the fee. When the illegal activity became apparently, Sullivan contended, little was done to discipline dancers.

In court documents, the Colacurcios are also accused of bilking the City of Seattle out of tax revenue by under-counting the number of patrons accessing the club. Each defendant faces nine counts of mail fraud on the allegation that they knowingly mailed false tax documents to the city.

Taking questions from media Tuesday, Sullivan said the investigation was not directly related to the Strippergate corruption scandal, in which the Colacurcios were accused of making illegal campaign contributions to Seattle City Council members in order to secure a change in zoning laws. Father and son Colacurcio ultimately pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in the case, which ended the political careers of two City Council candidates in 2003.

Attorneys for the Colacurcios did not return calls for comment Tuesday afternoon. Also indicted in U.S. District Court in Seattle were Frank Colacurcio Sr.'s nephew Leroy Richard Christiansen, longtime associates John Gilbert Conte and David Carl Ebert, and And Fox's manager Steven Michael Fueston. Several associated businesses are also named in the criminal indictment, which could allow federal authorities to seize them and their assets.

The investigation -- which involved the use of undercover officers, confidential informants and unspecified surveillance techniques -- followed earlier Seattle Police Department vice squad busts at Rick's. Sullivan said Tuesday that the witnesses include a number of former employees who agreed to testify after receiving immunity agreements; officers also "bugged" Colacurcio offices to record conversations between the men.

Providing excerpts from those recordings, prosecutors assert that Colacurcio and his associates had been told that the strippers were trading sex for money and did little to prevent the exchange. Prosecutors assert that, on hearing complaints from two dancers that a colleague was offering sex to Rick's patrons, Frank Colacurcio Jr. said the offending stripper sounded like his "type of girl."

In another instance, prosecutors assert that a dancer admitted to using her breasts as "props" during a sex act. In response, Ebert allegedly offered to pay for a "demonstration."

"I want a demonstration," Ebert allegedly said, according to court documents. "I'll even pay for a demonstration. I want to see the props."

Prosecutors make a more personal allegation against Frank Colacurcio Sr., alleging that he "regularly engaged in sex acts with the dancers from the strip clubs, and allowed dancers who engaged in prostitution at the strip clubs to continue working at the clubs, sometimes in exchange for committing sex acts with him."

The accused face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted on the 15 counts against each of them. They are scheduled to be arraigned July 24 and remain free pending trial.

Seattlepi.com reporter Casey McNerthney contributed to this report. Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com.

Sex offender accused of attacking boy at Vashon Island pool

By LEVI PULKKINEN
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Prosecutors have filed child molestation charges in an alleged assault on a 12-year-old boy at a Vashon Island pool.

According to charging papers, King County prosecutors believe 40-year-old Scott Michael Schoenecker accosted the child in a dressing room of the Vashon Public Pool. Schoenecker was arrested the day after the June 21 incident and remains in King County Jail.

In court documents, the King County sheriff's detective investigating the case says that Schoenecker approached the two young boys after watching them undress preparing to swim. The boys told the detective Sheonecker joined them in the shower area for a pre-swim rinse but did not approach them at the time.

After a short swim, the 12-year-old boy returned to the dressing area to place something in his swim bag. He told police that Schoenecker -- who was unknown to him before the incident -- grabbed him from behind and reached into the boy's swimsuit.

The child was able to break free and rushed to a staff member, police say.

Schoenecker fled.

Prosecutors contend that the boy's swimming partner spotted Schoenecker at the Vashon Library the following day. Police arrested shortly thereafter at a nearby grocery.

Two weeks before his arrest, Schoenecker had broken off contact with his parole officer, according to prosecutor. A registered sex offender, Schoenecker had recently been released from prison following a 2006 child molestation conviction.

In that case, Schoenecker was accused of groping several boys at a Tukwilla Target store. According to court documents, a 15-year-old boy spotted Schoenecker touching himself while staring at him; the boy told police Schoenecker was wearing partially transparent shorts without underwear.

Confronted by officers in the latest case, Schoenecker allegedly said he'd been living in his car on Vashon Island for 12 days. He remains in King County Jail on $100,000 and is charged with second-degree child molestation.
Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com.

Coach pleads not guilty in kid-assisted burglary

KOMO-TV STAFF

EVERETT -- The Little League coach accused of coaching his own son, his nephew and a player on his team to burgle an abandoned shop faced a judge on Monday.

George Walter Spady, Jr. faces a second-degree burglary charge for the March 21 burglary of the shop in the 17000 block of 91st Avenue Northeast.

In court Spady only had two words to say: "Not guilty."

Outside the court, Spady's attorney, Keith Hall, insisted on his client's innocence.

"He's (Spady is) saying he's not guilty and he's just looking forward to his day in court when all of this can be discussed," Hall said. "He's raised money for these kids. He's done a lot so it's a bit of a shock to be in this glare when he's done so much positive over the years."

Investigators believe Spady used his own 12-year-old son, his nephew and a player from his team to break into a shop in Arlington and take several things.

Detectives said they first learned of the incident when a man came forward with a story his stepson had told him, according to the statement of probable cause.

The man's stepson later confirmed the story to investigators. The boy, who was upset over the incident, said his coach had taken him to the shop after picking him up to play with his son.

The boy said the coach's son crawled in through a vent in the back of the shop and unlocked the front door, as was instructed by his father.

He said the coach and the two other boys went in and came back out, holding overhead lights and some other items from the shop, according to the statement.

The coach yelled at the boy to grab some other things from the shop, the boy said, but he refused. The boy added his coach told him to hurry because he had seen a truck drive by the area twice, the document said.

When questioned by detectives, Spady said he had gone onto the property to go "four-wheeling" with the kids, according to the document. He said they later stopped by the shop and drove around for a bit.

Spady said he had not seen any of the several "no trespassing" signs posted around the property.

The coach admitted he and two of the boys had gone into the shop, but said the door had been unlocked. He said he didn't know whether his son had crawled in through a vent in the back.

The man eventually admitted to taking some overhead shop lights, but denied taking anything else. He turned over the lights to deputies.

Spady's history includes two adult misdemeanor convictions and four juvenile misdemeanor convictions. The Stilly Valley Little League has relieved him of his coaching duties.

His trial is set to begin on Sept. 11.

The kids will not be prosecuted.