Crime & Safety

Sammamish Teen Arrested for Assault of Girl, Woman

Sammamish detectives located the juvenile suspected in two assaults after a neighbor photographed the suspect.

Detectives with the King County Sheriff’s Office have arrested a 16-year-old Sammamish resident in connection with two assaults that occurred in Sammamish on Monday.

The first assault occurred at about 3:30 p.m. in the 22700 block of NE 2nd Street. A 10-year-old girl was walking home from her school bus stop when she was grabbed from behind. She fought back and was able to escape to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor walked her home where her parents contacted police.The second assault occurred just after 7 p.m. in the 700 block of SE 240th Way.

A 26-year-old woman was about to enter her condo when she was attacked from behind. The suspect ran away as soon as she screamed. She immediately told a neighbor, who walked around the complex looking for the suspect. The neighbor photographed a male he saw nearby who appeared to match her initial description and provided the photo to the officers on scene.

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That photograph led detectives to establish a positive ID on the suspect. He was booked into the King County Juvenile Detention Facility on charges of child molestation, communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and assault with sexual motivation.

In light of the assaults, the Lake Washington School District asks parents to share safety tips with students:

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Basic Safety Information:

1. Students should always walk to and from school or other locations in groups.

2. Students should use paved walkways—not shortcuts through wooded areas.

3. Students should not interact with any unknown person or animal.

Here are some safety tips for students if approached by a stranger:

1. Step Back Away From the Stranger. You must keep a “bubble of safety” of at least 15 feet from the stranger. Once you are over 15 feet away, the chances of them re-engaging (getting you again) are small.

2. Scream Loudly! Draw attention to yourself by yelling as loud as you can. Yelling “Stranger!” rather than “Help!” lets everyone within earshot know that this is not a game.

3. Get Slippery. This means to pull your arms into your chest (without crossing them). By keeping your arms close to your torso, you are harder to grab by the arms.

4. Run to Safety. Safety is any place that there are other people. First choice is to run to adults (known or not). The second choice is to run to children. Never run and hide. You need witnesses. The rules to running: look where you are running (not behind you), you are not allowed to get tired until you are safe, run to safety (people).

5.  Bite. If the stranger grabs you, fight back! You do not need to become a victim. The best weapon for everyone is biting. The human bite has between 100 and 200 pounds of pressure. Rules to biting: step toward the attacker, bite whatever is closest, bite as hard as you can, don’t stop biting until they let you go. Run to safety.

--Information from Sammamish Police Department and Lake Washington School District


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