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BURGLAR BEHIND BARS | Kirkland police nab residential burglar in Finn Hill neighborhood [13]
Finn Hill land | City buys 6 acres of land, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2013 furthers neighborhood’s preservation goals [6]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Author | Man, 95, recalls life during Great Depression in new book [5 ]
Five robbery suspects charged in three-state crime spree BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
F
ive people suspected of robbing several banks in three states – including a Kirkland Wells Fargo Bank last December – were arrested on federal bank robbery charges on Jan. 31. Tacoma resident Anthony V. Mosley, 46, and four California residents -
Kevin L. Brown, 38; Curtis W. Smith, 22; Douglas L. Smith, 22; Jeanine M. Daniels, 32 – are believed to be responsible for the Kirkland Wells Fargo Bank robbery at 6615 132nd Ave. N.E. on Dec. 20, 2012. That night, three men entered the bank wearing loose clothing and face covers. Two suspects jumped over the teller counter and
one stayed in the lobby as they stole approximately $32,000 in 90 seconds, according to the federal complaint documents. It was the suspects’ last robbery. The FBI South Sound Gang Task Force initially arrested the suspects on state bank robbery charges on Dec. 22, 2012 after they tracked the suspects to a Greyhound bus station
in Olympia. The group planned to board the bus that afternoon to make a trip to Los Angles, but never made it. After the FBI alerted the bus station of the robbers’ descriptions, one employee called police to let them know “three black men and one black woman” had come to the bus station in search of tickets to Los
Angeles, according to the documents, but the bus was full and they bought tickets for a later date. The FBI surrounded the area on Dec. 22, 2012, and after they saw Mosley and four other people exit his vehicle, officers arrested them. Mosley’s criminal history reveals he was convicted of bank robbery in 1998. One of his conspirators
Chessie Barrett from Florida was working as an ADT emergency dispatcher. When one Kirkland man She was in the process of awoke to his blaring house ensuring Zimmerman’s alarm on Jan. 5 he was safety. groggy and slightly con“My first thought was fused. The fire that tipped … you never know if it’s the alarm was slowly gaingoing to be an ‘actual’ or a ing leverage in his hobby false alarm,” Barrett said. “I room near the basement. contacted the premise, no But Dr. Jim answer. So I Zimmerimmediately man, 71, dispatched began to the fire check the department doors to see and continif somebody, ued down maybe a the call list.” burglar, had Back at accidentally the Juanita set off the home, ZimADT secumerman rity alarm. dropped to “I was his hands Chessie Barrett receives confused, I and knees, didn’t know flowers from Jim Zimmerman. crawled where the CARRIE RODRIGUEZ, Kirkland Reporter through fire was,” thick dark Zimmerman smoke to retrieve a fire said. “I just heard a noise extinguisher and put the and I thought it was the fire out. Within seconds he burglar alarm.” turned around and was face After he smelled smoke, to face with Kirkland firehe found the room the fighters who told him they’d fire was coming from and take it from there. Firefightopened the door. Smoke ers soon discovered it was a billowed out. The flames tobacco pipe’s fallen embers were at least 3 feet high. that had caused the blaze. Just seconds before, 2,500 “The house would have miles across the country, a [ more LIFE page 3 ] 22-year-old woman named BY RAECHEL DAWSON
rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride sits on her living room couch at her home in the Moss Bay neighborhood. McBride has spent more than a decade on the Kirkland City Council but will not seek reelection in the fall. CARRIE RODRIGUEZ, Kirkland Reporter
After more than a decade on the council, Mayor McBride will not seek reelection BY RAECHEL DAWSON
Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride announced this week that she will not run for reelection on the Kirkland City Council after her December term expiration and that she will instead retire after 21 years of public service. “I am never going to quit Kirkland when it’s
down, ever,” said McBride of the past years. “Now, we have an amazing council … Leave when you’re batting well, leave when you’re at the top of the cake. Yes, we did it.” McBride, 61, is most proud of the ethics policy and code of conduct that were enacted during her time as mayor. “I am really proud
[ more ROBBERY page 3 ]
Fire victim meets people who saved his life
End of an era for Kirkland
rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
from the crime admitted to being in the Four-Tre Crips gang and told officers of the Four-Tre’s mode of operation for robberies, which includes jumping over teller counters, stealing vehicles for the getaway car and switching to a rented car afterward – similar to how the Kirkland robbery ensued, the documents
that we are a city that has an ethical standard that we can point to and say we all agree to this,” said McBride, who has served on the council since 1998 and was elected as mayor in 2010. “I am also extremely proud of the way we handle our business meetings now. Our meetings are without rancor, without attacks on
staff, endless round debate that’s gone on. Every meeting we work through our agenda, we debate and then we make a decision. We do exactly what we’re supposed to. We’re professional, we’re efficient and we are collegial. I am really proud of that.” Among the projects, McBride states that she would have felt that she [ more MAYOR page 6 ]