In Bellevue, the woman told the man to pull into an underground parking garage near Interstate 405 at Northeast 12th Street about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, where she said she had to make some phone calls. Two men then appeared at the garage.

The two men and the woman robbed the man of $7,000 in his wallet, the man told police. The man, who said he had no job, reported he carried the money to impress women, Grannis said.

Kirkland

2 teens arrested after home burns

Kirkland police arrested two 15-year-old boys for questioning in connection with a house fire started by fireworks.

Detectives say the youths had been lighting bottle rockets, which set the roof on fire Tuesday, and a bag of the rockets was recovered as evidence during the investigation. The Kirkland teenagers face potential charges of first-degree reckless burning, police said.

A tarpaulin was stretched over the roof Thursday, and repair crews had most of the interior ripped out at the house in the 12000 block of 93rd Place Northeast in Kirkland as they began repairing damage.

The Kirkland Fire & Building Department estimated the damage to the 1991 home at $350,000, and $20,000 damage to the home's contents. The home's value was placed at $500,000.

The two juveniles, one of whom was a friend of the residents of the burned-out home, were later released to their parents.

Investigators concluded the blaze was caused by fireworks that landed on a wood-shake roof. A neighbor reported the fire at 3:49 p.m. Tuesday. The fire was reported controlled within 20 minutes. Ten fire units responded to the blaze, and firefighters remained at the scene until 11:45 p.m.

Kirkland banned private fireworks displays throughout the city in 1998 after more than 20 complaints about fireworks were received from residents the previous year.

Fireworks caused a fatal fire at the Yarrow Bay apartments in 1980. In 1993, fireworks were blamed for a fire at the Juanita High School science building, and two years later they caused a fire at the Juanita Creek Apartments that did about $900,000 damage.

Woodinville

22-year-old drowns in Lake Stevens

A 22-year-old Woodinville man drowned in Lake Stevens in Snohomish County early Tuesday, the Lake Stevens Fire Department reported.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victim as Eric Kenneth Fergen.

The accident happened in the 100 block of North Davies Road, about a block north of a Snohomish County park on the west side of Lake Stevens, the department reported. A group of people there had been jumping off the roof of a private boathouse when the victim failed to surface, according to the department.

A 911 call was made about 12:05 a.m. Tuesday and by the time aid crews arrived, friends had pulled the man from the water and CPR was being administered. Rescuers were unable to revive him.

Bellevue

Sex offender fails to appear for trial

Bellevue police are looking for a fugitive sex offender who failed to appear for trial.

The fugitive is Wesley Lu, 26, who may have fled to Taiwan, said Officer Greg Grannis, Bellevue police spokesman.

Lu is charged in King County Superior Court with possession of sexual depictions of a minor. A warrant with a $1.5 million bail has been issued for his arrest.

Lu has a previous conviction for child molestation and is supposed to register his address with the King County sheriff. He earlier had registered at a Bellevue address but is no longer living there and his location is unknown, Grannis said Thursday.

Lu was convicted of three counts of child molestation in 2004.

Further information about Lu is available on the Bellevue police Web site at www.bellevuepolice.net.

Seattle Times Eastside bureau

More Eastside news headlines...