Deputy says woman wanted him to kill

Seattle

Deputy says woman wanted him to kill

A 28-year-old Sumner woman tried to hire an undercover King County sheriff's deputy last week to kill her daughter's father, the child's stepmother and the child's grandparents, according to a police report filed in King County District Court.

The undercover officer videotaped the solicitation, in which the woman reportedly requested that he either shoot, stab or bludgeon the intended victims. She offered the deputy $500 for the slayings, the police report said.

The deputy got involved in the case after an Arizona man called Auburn police on Oct. 20 to report that his friend had asked him to kill the four people. The man said the woman's anger stemmed from a child-custody agreement, the report said.

A spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office said he anticipates felony charges will be filed today. The woman was arrested Friday and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Kent

Anti-gang sweep brings 23 arrests

A sweep by several law-enforcement agencies that targeted known gang members with outstanding warrants or a history of probation violations resulted in 23 arrests last week, according to Kent police.

Those arrested were taken into custody Friday on outstanding warrants in connection with a range of alleged criminal activity including murder, narcotics violations and attempted robbery.

The participating agencies, which included the state Department of Corrections, the King County Sheriff's Office, and police departments in Des Moines, Federal Way, Seattle and Kent, also assisted in the arrest of 18-year-old homicide suspect Edward Cobb.

Cobb, 18, was arrested in White Center on Friday after his girlfriend reported a domestic-violence incident and told police where he could be found. He is being held in connection with the July shooting death of 17-year-old Chezaray Bacchus at an Arby's in Kent.

"This emphasis was the first of several coordinated efforts planned in this area to address criminal gang activity," said Kent Police Chief Steve Strachan. "We're sending a strong message that law enforcement, corrections, and other agencies are working together."

Redmond

More charges for extortion suspect

Additional charges were brought Tuesday against a 27-year-old Bellevue man, Sasidhar Vanapalli, who was accused of first-degree rape and first-degree criminal impersonation for an attack on a woman in Redmond Oct. 17.

He earlier had been charged with first-degree extortion and was also charged with first-degree criminal impersonation in a Bellevue case. If convicted as charged, the sentence range is 20 to 26 years in prison.

The defendant remains in jail on $500,000 bail. He is scheduled for arraignment on all charges next Wednesday. According to the filings, Vanapalli impersonated a police officer to force prostitutes to have sex.

Olympia

23 percent of voters have sent in ballots

With a week to go until Election Day, just less than a fourth of the state's eligible voters have returned their ballots.

A county-by-county assessment by The Associated Press found that as of Tuesday, more than 820,000 ballots had been returned by the state's 3.6 million voters, or about 23 percent. Counties say a steady stream of ballots are coming in daily.

State Elections Director Nick Handy said the secretary of state's office estimates about 50 percent of the projected vote will be in by Friday, with the rest coming in next week.

"The closer we get to the election, the returns are going to just increase each day, and will crescendo Monday or Tuesday of next week," Handy said.

Ballots were sent out Oct. 17, and must be postmarked by Tuesday.

Secretary of State Sam Reed has predicted an 83 percent turnout statewide — about 3 million people — with some counties expecting their individual turnout numbers to be even higher.

King County, which has 1.1 million voters, is predicting an 85 percent turnout, and elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan was encouraging voters to get ballots in early.

Olympia

Inmates transferred back to state prisons

More than 100 inmates are being transferred back to Washington after serving time at private prisons in Arizona.

The Corrections Department says the return of 110 inmates from Arizona is the largest single-day transfer of out-of-state inmates this year.

They were sent to Arizona because of crowding in Washington prisons. But an expansion in the state prison system has freed up some space.

Seventy-six of the inmates will be sent to the Washington Corrections Center in Mason County, and 34 will be sent to the Monroe Correctional Complex in Snohomish County.

The number of inmates housed outside the state is now 978. Earlier this year, nearly 1,200 Washington inmates were in other states.

Pullman

WSU students rally after gays attacked

Hundreds of Washington State University students rallied at noon Tuesday at Glenn Terrell Mall on behalf of gay students who recently were attacked.

Many wore red to show support and carried signs that said, "End Hate."

Radio station KRPL reports that WSU President Elson Floyd canceled a business trip to return to campus for the rally. Students stopped him from speaking, saying this was the administration's time to listen.

Campus and Pullman police are investigating three possible hate crimes earlier this month in two assaults on campus and one on College Hill.

Meanwhile, campus police also are looking for whoever inserted swastika leaflets Monday into stacks of the student newspaper, the Daily Evergreen. The newspaper says the leaflets, which showed the image of a swastika constructed of Legos, were part of a student's subversive art project and not related to the recent alleged hate crimes.

Olympia

Wrong-way driver crashes on I-5; 1 dies

The State Patrol says a 70-year-old man was driving the wrong way on Interstate 5 at Olympia when he collided with two other vehicles, killing one of the drivers.

The Patrol says the collisions happened Monday night when a 2007 Buick went northbound in the southbound lanes.

Troopers say the dead man had been driving a Chevrolet S10 pickup.

The crash injured the Olympia man driving the Buick, his 70-year-old wife and the 60-year-old driver of the other car involved.

Times staff and news services