LS transient arrested for attempted rape

BY AMY CODISPOTI | JOURNAL REPORTER On March 21, Lake Stevens Police arrested a 27-year-old man suspected of attempted abduction and attempted rape.

He was booked into Snohomish County jail on charges of attempted rape.

He was released on a $25,000 bond on March 22.

Police Chief Randy Celori describes the man, a Lake Stevens resident, as a transient white male who frequented the area behind Target, around the Community Transit Station.

“He doesn’t live in the same place continuously, and floats between a few different locations,” he said.

The man has no previous local record of criminal history.

According to Celori, on March 14 at approximately 4pm, the 17-year-old female victim walked her boyfriend to the Community Transit Station where he boarded a bus.

After the bus left the station, the victim was going to walk home.
“An unknown man approached the female from the rear and put his hand over her mouth,” Celori said. “She bit the man and screamed. She was able to get away.”

The suspect also fled the scene in an “unknown direction,” possibly toward the woods, Celori said.

The victim ran toward the front of Target, where she alerted another person of the situation and immediately called the police.

According to police documents, officers were dispatched at 4:09pm and were on the scene in two minutes.

Sergeant Brooks, a Lake Stevens detective, spent the week following the crime, conducting surveillance of the area and researching Community Transit Station videos, as well as video from buses and from Target. During his surveillance, Brooks observed the subject at the Community Transit Station. He identified him as matching the composite drawing based on the victim’s description.

The suspect was picked up at the Lundeen Park/Norm’s Market area.

“He later confessed that he was going to rape her,” Celori said.

After the victim’s boyfriend left on the bus, the victim and the male subject were the only two people at the Community Transit Station, according to Celori.

“By her resisting, biting, screaming, and running to attract the attention of others, I think she was saved from an incident from occurring,” Celori said. “I think she was definitely very lucky.”

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