June 1, 2012 [3]
www.kirklandreporter.com
Former Hopelink employees charged reselling bus passes BILL CHRISTIANSON Reporter Newspapers
King County prosecutors have filed felony theft charges against two former Hopelink employees, who allegedly stole and resold more than $95,000 worth of bus passes between May 2009 and March 2010. The bus passes were intended to be used for homeless, low-income and disabled people, but prosecutors contend Kimberly Holmes, 48, and Manuel Almagro, 30, stole and resold the passes for a personal profit. According to charging documents, Holmes and Almagro created false client accounts and altered existing client accounts while working at a Bellevue call center “to have the passes mailed to a series of addresses where Almagro arranged for the collection and retrieval of the passes.” Almagro would then sell the bus passes for $50-100 each and share the profits with Holmes, the charging papers stated. A specific amount of false bus passes was not revealed in the charging documents, but Almagro told detectives that 1,350 fraudulent passes were obtained, according to CRIME
This week’s…
ALERT
Police Blotter The blotter feature is both a description of a small selection of police incidents and a statistical round-up of all calls to the Kirkland Police Department that are dispatched to on-duty police officers. The Kirkland Reporter Police Blotter is not intended to be representative of all police calls originating in Kirkland, which average about 1,000 per week. Between May 22-28, the Kirkland Police Department reported 484 traffic violations (seven DUIs), 32 alarm calls, 22 car accidents, 25 noise complaints, 14 thefts, six car prowls, 15 domestic violence calls, three calls for harassment, seven burglary calls, six acts of fraud, 19 calls of a disturbance, two calls for illegal substances and 17 calls of civil disturbance. At least 40 people were arrested.
the charging papers. In addition, Almagro admitted to stealing $200-300 worth of gas cards, charging papers continue. Almagro was terminated from the Hopelink call center, located at 14812 Main St. in Bellevue, in June 2009 because of attendance issues, according to the charging documents and Holmes was placed on leave in April 2010 and fired in June 2010 after an internal investigation by the Redmond-based nonprofit charity that also serves Kirkland. Many of the bus passes were sent to Seattle residences, along with a Renton rental property, which was formerly owned by Almagro, according to charging papers. Two of the tenants who lived at the Renton residence suspected wrongdoing and returned a package of 15 passes back to Hopelink, which provides transportation assistance to low-income and disabled people among other social services on the Eastside. Almagro told one of the residents that the bus passes were being sent to the Renton address “as an attempt to help homeless people without addresses,” a Bellevue detective wrote
May 28 Domestic: 4:29 p.m., 14000 block of 97th Ave. N.E. A 56-year-old Kirkland woman was arrested after she grabbed her daughter-in-law’s upper arms and left fingernail marks. The victim, who lives with the suspect, complained of pain. Domestic: 7:30 p.m., 13000 block of 127th Drive N.E. An open 911 call resulted in the arrest of a 39-yearold Kirkland man for assault. The dispatcher heard the woman telling the suspect to stop hitting her. The victim told police that the man struck her cell phone out of her hand after forcefully taking her purse.
May 25 Assault: 1:30 p.m., 11400 block of Slater Ave. N.E. A 22-yearold Kirkland man was arrested for assault.
May 23 Warrant arrest: 2:18 p.m., 200 block of Main St. A 48-year-old Bellevue man was contacted after screaming outside of a bank in downtown Kirkland. The man was found to have a warrant out of Seattle for assault. While in custody the man threatened to return to Kirkland and kill the arresting officer. Domestic: 9:18 p.m., 6400 block of 114th Ave. N.E. A 23-year-old
in the charging papers. The same resident told detectives that he “watched Almagro open an envelope and sell a pass to one of the females that rented a room from him,” the detective wrote in the charging papers. Investigators soon revealed that Almagro and Holmes, who blame each other for the crime, were allegedly putting the profits into their own pockets and not helping the homeless. According to the charging papers, Holmes accused Almagro of being the mastermind behind the scheme and keeping most of the profits. She told detectives that Almagro paid her $40 for each pass she issued at his request, court documents state. She claimed she made approximately $700 from the total scheme, and “did it primarily as a favor to Almagro,” charging papers said. In addition, Holmes told detectives that Almargo “had established an elaborate lifestyle with fancy clothes and new glasses from the money he was making from stolen passes,” according to the charging papers.
more story online… kirklandreporter.com
Lynnwood female and 25-year-old Kirkland man were involved in a physical altercation. The man sustained injuries to his face and head. The woman had minor injuries to her forearm. The woman was arrested for domestic violence. Assault: 10:24 p.m., 12200 block of N.E. 130th Way. A 21-year-old man was being interviewed after a report that he assaulted another man. The suspect attempted to run from police during the interview and was tracked down after a short foot pursuit. The man was arrested for assault, obstruction and misleading police. Domestic: 1:39 a.m., 11400 block of 81st Ave. N.E. A 27-year-old man was arrested after threatening his stepbrother with a fireplace poker and then throwing it at him and a friend. The suspect also shoved both victims. Disorderly conduct: 6:30 a.m., 20 5th Ave. A 24-year-old Kirkland man was contacted by police after he vomited in the backyard of a house he did not have residency. The man also attempted to enter the house. The man was extremely inebriated, covered in vomit, missing a shoe and uncooperative. The suspect lives up the street, did not have his keys and refused to provide any contact information for his landlord. The man was found to have a blood alcohol content of .266. He was transported to Evergreen Hospital for evaluation and counseling.
[ SUIT from page 1]
proposed four-story development to be approved under the zoning codes in effect at the time of application. It further states that any changes to zoning codes during the building moratorium cannot be legally imposed on the Potala Village project, which would be located at the southeast corner of 10th Avenue South and Lake Street South. Potala Village Kirkland, LLC, claims that the ordinances for the building moratorium did not meet the legal requirements, such as an emergency or imminent threat to public health or safety, it overlapped for two weeks in direct violation to state law and “no developed work plan exists and no findings of fact justify the renewal.” The lawsuit also claims that the city did not adhere to its own work plan between January and May and did not complete the third step in the process, which was to be completed by Feb. 23. The development originally called for 181 units under the unlimited density provision of the zoning code. It was reduced to 164 units and revised down to 150 units, which would provide a greater mix of twobedroom units, after developers met with city staff in December 2010 and reviewed the design. The lawsuit asserts that no concerns or issues were raised with the respect to density. It was again revised down to 143 units to “allow for higher ceilings and larger courtyards than most city standards in the region require,” according to court documents. On Feb. 23, 2011 Potala Village submitted an application for Shoreline Substantial Development permit (SPD) based on the 143-unit design and a 6,000-square-foot commercial space on the ground floor. The court documents state that under Washing-
ton State law the permit holds vested rights. Potala claims that a State Environmental Policy Act review showed no significant environmental impacts as the city issued a Determination of Non-Siginificance (DNS) that warranted further study. But the lawsuit goes on to assert that under further public pressure for review, the city rescinded the DNS and informed the developers that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) would be required. But the Dargeys acquiesced to the request, stating that the EIS is a “costly and timeconsuming process,” according to the court filing. Potala managers also submitted a transportation concurrency analysis showing that the project met all of the city’s requirements. The city approved the traffic analysis, according to the court documents. The city’s Planning Commission was in the process of reviewing all of the BN-zoned properties in the city when the Potala Village issue began. “For us, this was always about the neighborhood business family of zones and not Potala,” said Jon Pascal, Planning Commission vice chair elect. “What we started is much bigger and broader than this one issue. We have been charged to evaluate all commercially zoned properties in the City’s neighborhoods such as BN, BNA, BC, and BCX zones and we will continue the process so council can lift the moratorium on the BN zones.” There are only two BN-zoned properties in the city – one in the Bridle Trails neighborhood and one on Lake Washington Boulevard. Pascal said that he is not aware of how the lawsuit will affect the commission’s work on BN-zoned properties.
AAA Congratulates CLARA PFUNDT ROBERT FROST ELEMENTARY
2012 AAA School Safety Patrol - H A L L O F FA M E I N D U C T E E -
Every school day, thousands of school safety patrollers dedicate themselves to the safety of their classmates. From more than 22,000 patrollers across Washington, 10 were inducted into the 2012 AAA School Safety Patrol Hall of Fame. Clara Pfundt of Robert Frost Elementary in Kirkland was chosen as a 2012 Hall of Fame inductee. AAA, the founder of the School Safety Patrol program, and the community of Kirkland will be forever grateful for her dedication, and that of her fellow patrollers, to the safety of her classmates. Congratulations Clara, you are a true everyday hero!
PROUD SPONSOR OF YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL SAFETY PATROL SINCE 1920