2 Crips released after year in jail

Two Hilltop Crips who helped send dozens of their fellow gang members to prison got out of jail Friday with the blessing of Pierce County prosecutors.

Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson signed orders presented by prosecutors releasing Curtis D. Hudson and Manuel J. Hernandez, both 23, pending their March 11 sentencing hearings.

Deputy prosecutor Phil Sorensen told The News Tribune that both men had abided by the terms of a deal they made with authorities after they were swept up in a crackdown on the Tacoma street gang nearly a year ago.

They provided key information and in some cases testified at trial against their fellow gang members.

“This gang sweep couldn’t have happened, couldn’t have been the great success it has been, without the cooperation of these two witnesses,” said Sorensen, who oversees the gang unit.

Prosecutors charged 36 people with a multitude of crimes in February 2010 in an effort to gut the gang, which members of the South Sound Gang Task Force said had become increasingly active and violent.

Since then, 32 have been convicted of at least one crime, and two others are set for trial. Prosecutors dismissed all charges against two of the men.

One of those convicted – Bobby Jo Ezra Plain, 24 – was sentenced Friday to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree robbery and second-degree assault.

Prosecutors are expected to recommend sentences of time served for Hudson and Hernandez – who spent about a year in jail – in exchange for their cooperation.

“They’ve served all the time they’re expected to serve under the terms of their agreements,” Sorensen said.

Hernandez faced in excess of 45 years had he not agreed to cooperate, according to a plea agreement he reached with prosecutors in April 2010.

Originally charged with nine felonies, he pleaded guilty in April to five crimes, including second-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary. Prosecutors will ask a judge to vacate all but the conspiracy count – which carries a standard-range sentence of nine to 12 months – at his sentencing hearing, his plea agreement shows.

Hernandez began running with the Hilltop Crips not long after he was released from the custody of the state Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration following a conviction for first-degree murder.

At 12, he was the youngest of eight youths convicted of fatally beating Erik Toews as he walked down a Tacoma street in 2000. He was sentenced to the custody of JRA until he turned 21.

Details of Hudson’s plea deal have not been made public.

He originally was charged with 20 crimes – first-degree robbery and second-degree assault among them – and entered guilty pleas to all of them in March. Prosecutors also attached aggravating factors to his crimes, which qualified him for sentences outside the standard range. In his case, that could have been life in prison.

Prosecutors are expected to ask a judge to vacate all but one of his charges – also with a standard-range sentence of less than a year – at the March sentencing hearing.

Hudson was the key witness in the case, agreeing to cooperate early on in the investigation.

He grew up in the gang and was known to hustle cocaine as a teenager. He had convictions for robbery and illegally carrying a gun before being arrested as part of the crackdown.

Hudson took part in beatings, robberies and burglaries across the greater Tacoma area in 2008 and 2009 as part of the gang, court documents state.

“Through countless hours of interviews … he detailed the workings of the Hilltop Crips gang,” Tacoma police detective John Ringer wrote last year in an affidavit seeking a search warrant in the case.

His cooperation was widely known among his co-defendants – who called him a snitch – and authorities kept him under guard at an undisclosed location.

Hudson and Hernandez are required to continue cooperating with authorities until their sentencing hearings. That may include testifying against the final two defendants in the case.

As part of his pre-sentence release, Hudson is forbidden from associating with gang members, going to nightclubs where alcohol is served and entering the Tacoma city limits except in limited circumstances.

He also agreed to a 10 p.m. curfew, according to conditions of release signed by Cuthbertson.

“Until they testify in the final two cases, they’ll be under monitoring by law enforcement and strict conditions of release,” Sorensen said. “Because two more cases are still pending, I cannot comment further.”

The News Tribune

Ex-teacher pleads not gulity to sex charges

A 38-year-old former Mount Tahoma High School teacher pleaded not guilty Friday to having sex with an 18-year-old student.

Veronica Chantel Dawkins entered the not guilty plea in Pierce County Superior Court to eight counts of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor.

It is illegal in Washington for a teacher to have sex with a student, even if the student is of the age of consent.

The presiding judge in the case released Dawkins without bail, but ordered her to have no contact with the student.

She is also barred from having unsupervised contact with her two minor children, who are living with their father.

Dawkins resigned from her teaching post this week after the school became aware of the allegations against her.

According to court records filed in the case, the 18-year-old student told detectives that he and Dawkins began a consensual sexual relationship in December that continued through January.

He said Dawkins did not coerce him into having sex or take advantage of him, but that the feelings between them were “mutual.”

“The relationship didn’t just materialize out of thin air. It developed. She’s a great teacher – very inspirational,” the student said, according to court records.

He said they decided to stop the relationship because it wasn’t right.

“It was spiritual. We talked. We weren’t proud of it. It’s a sin. We had guilt,” he said.

He told detectives he and Dawkins felt their actions were sinful because she is married and has two children.

According to court documents, Dawkins told detectives she wanted to be truthful and admitted having sex with the student on several occasions.

She said she knew the student was 18 years old, but that she forgot it “by the conversations we have.”

She said they had sex together at the student’s residence, where he lives alone, and also outdoors at a local park.

She told detectives she wanted to end the relationship after a few weeks because she was feeling guilty.

Dawkins has taught at Hunt Middle School and later at Mount Tahoma High School.

KOMO 4 News

Car-train colision on tideflats, one injured

Tacoma police and responded to a car vs. Tacoma Rail train crash early this morning in the 2000 block of Marine View Drive on the Tacoma tideflats.

Fire Department spokesman Joe Meinecke said the call came in at 1:04 a.m. He said a person in the car was taken to the hospital.

Tacoma Rail spokeswoman Chris Gleason said they were moving the train across the road when a motorist drove around a flagger and hit the back end of a rail car.  She said the flagger was waving his sign frantically but she simply drove around him.

She said employees estimated the  car was going about 40 mph. The train was going about 4 mph, she said.

She said the impact damaged the car severely as well as the rail car. “Her car was totaled,” Gleason said. “It did a fair amount of damage to the rail car.” The driver apparently swerved at the last minute and hit the rail car on the passenger side of the vehicle.

She said they had to use a crane to pry the car away from the rail car. She said the passenger side mirror was embedded in the rail car.

Tacoma police are investigating.

Ex-teacher accused of having sex with 18-year-old student

A 38-year-old woman has been charged in Pierce County Superior Court with having sex with an 18-year-old male student while she was a teacher at Mount Tahoma High School.

The woman, identified as Veronica Chantel Dawkins, resigned from her teaching post last week after the school became aware of the allegations.

She is scheduled to appear in court on Friday for an arraignment on eight counts of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor.

It is illegal in Washington for a teacher to have sex with a student, even if the student is of the age of consent.

According to court records filed in the case, the 18-year-old told detectives that he and Dawkins began a consensual sexual relationship in December that continued through January.
He said Dawkins did not coerce him into having sex or take advantage of him, but that the feelings between them were “mutual.”

“The relationship didn’t just materialize out of thin air. It developed. She’s a great teacher – very inspirational,” the student said, according to court records.

He said they decided to stop the relationship because it wasn’t right.

“It was spiritual. We talked. We weren’t proud of it. It’s a sin. We had guilt,” he said.

He told detectives he and Dawkins felt their actions were sinful because she is married with two children, both minors.

According to court documents, Dawkins told detectives she wanted to be truthful and admitted having sex with the student on several occasions.

She said she knew the student was 18 years old, but that she forgot it “by the conversations we have.”

She said they had sex together at the student’s residence, where he lives alone, and also outdoors at a local park.

She told detectives she wanted to end the relationship after a few weeks because she was feeling guilty.

Dawkins has taught at Hunt Middle School and later at Mount Tahoma High School.

“Save Foss” rally planned later today

Students, parents and friends of Foss High School will gather outside the school today to protest a proposal to temporarily close the high school to meet district budget cuts.

Patti DeRusha, a Foss alumna and parent of two current students, said she hopes to have 300 participants in the “Save Foss” rally. Green and gold-clad rallyers will meet in the student parking lot at 2:15, then move to the corner of South 19th Street and South Tyler Street to wave signs.

Foss may be on the chopping block as the School Board works to reconcile the budget because it is the high school with the lowest student enrollment. Learn more here.

One year anniversery approaches of Camille Love’s death family and friends will hold vigil in rememberence

Friends and family of an innocent bystander gunned down in a Tacoma shooting will remember her life Monday.

Camille Love, 20, was shot near the intersection of E. Portland Ave. and 56th St. as she drove home from a Super Bowl party on Feb. 7, 2010. “Cami,” as her friends called her, was killed; her brother, Josh, was grazed by a bullet and survived.

This Monday marks the one-year anniversary of her death, and friends are organizing a vigil to honor Love. “Let this day be a day when we all unite to celebrate her life,” said Cami’s friend Mike Guza. “Camille Love (was) the victim of a random act of violence.”

In November, three more men were charged in connection with the shooting, bringing the total to five people now facing charges in connection with the crime. Prosecutors believe the shooting was one gang’s attempt at retaliation on another gang. Court documents say that neither Cami nor Josh had any gang involvement, and were likely in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Friends and family will gather at 56th and Portland – where the shooting happened – at 7 pm Monday to honor Cami’s memory, Guza said. All are invited to attend.

Lindsay Cohen, KOMO 4 News

Tacoma man shot after fight with girlfriend

A Tacoma man is in the hospital with a gunshot wound this morning after a fight with his girlfriend turned violent.

Tacoma Police spokesman Mark Fulghum said officers responded to reports of “yelling and screaming” coming from a house in the 1600 block of East Fairbanks at approximately 8:30 a.m.

When they got there, Fulghum said, they found the man down and wounded. “They sent him to the hospital and arrested her,” Fulghum said.

No further details were available.

Gun fight between father and son

Tacoma Police spokesman Mark Fulghum said that neither man involved was shot when gunfire was heard by a family member at a Tacoma house.

Early reports from Tacoma police said that an argument ended in shots being fired between a father and son, possibly injuring one. Later, police said that the two men, a father and his stepson, were fighting over a gun when the gun went off, hitting the ceiling. The father suffered a head injury either from the fall or the fight, not from a bullet wound.

Tacoma police responded to the scene after 3 p.m. Saturday, after another family member locked herself in an upstairs room and called 911 to report the incident.

Officer-involved shooting in Tacoma, officers identified

Robert O’Connell, 42, of Steilacoom, was killed in an officer-involved shooting on Friday night. O’Connell was identified Saturday. The two officers that shot were male, said Police Chief Don Ramsdell.

Tacoma police have identified the two officers involved in a shooting that left O’Connell dead as Shawn Malott and Matthew Verkoelen.

O’Connell had bipolar disorder but had not been taking medication for the illness, his father said Saturday.

Police Sunday said that O’Connell shot three times.

The two officers have been placed on paid administrative leave, late Friday night, which standard procedure for this type of incident. 

Police chief says initial findings indicate “the officers acted within the department policy.” Police spokesman said two officers ran into trouble at the 76 station at Portland and M Street at approximately 7 p.m.

Officers would not recognize O’Connell from routine patrol, suspect and officers were within feet of each other during shooting, police chief had been told.

When officers approached O’Connell, he pulled out gun.

A witness who works near the crime scene said he saw O’Connell get into a confrontation with the police officers.

Witnesses said they heard as many as 20 rounds being shot by both parties at close range. Police do not know how many total shots were fired by officers.

The situation escalated into a shootout with both officers and O’Connell trading fire. O’Connell was hit at least once and was bleeding when he got cuffed by officers, the witness said.

Tacoma police say O’Connell was acting suspiciously outside the gas station.

O’Connell was pronounced dead at the scene, according to medics. No one else was injured, including officers.

The investigation continues.

Man sues Tacoma police over improper search of his home

A man who claims Tacoma police trashed his house while serving a search warrant four years ago is suing the city for damages.

A lawyer for Calvin B. Clark filed the lawsuit in Pierce County Superior Court on Monday.

The suit seeks unspecified damages, but Clark requested $200,000 in a claim filed with the city earlier this year.

Police investigating a drug case searched Clark’s house during the evening of Jan. 24, 2007. They reported in court documents they believed he might have been providing drugs to a street-level dealer they’d been investigating.

Clark later was charged with drug and weapons crimes, but the case was dismissed after Superior Court Judge Ronald Culpepper ruled police did not have probable cause to search Clark’s house. Culpepper threw out all evidence seized during the search.

Clark wrote in documents accompanying his claim against the city that the episode greatly embarrassed him and that police caused unnecessary damage to his home during their search, including damaging a wall while trying to access a safe.

“I was violated and my character defamed,” he said. “I am a firm believer of the law, but my family was wronged.”

TPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The News Tribune