News-Times Whidbey
ISLAND LIVING Whidbey writer shares a great story A11
SATURDAY, MAY 25, 2013 | Vol. 114, No. 42 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢
Woman says she was assaulted in workplace Victim critical of response by police, employer By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
She still shakes uncontrollably when talking about it. A 51-year-old North Whidbey woman said it was absolutely terrifying when a customer assaulted her while she was working in the back room of the Oak Harbor Safeway April 30.
What made it worse, she said, is how she was treated afterward by her employer and police. She said she feels re-victimized. “Nobody has done anything,” she repeatedly said during an interview with the Whidbey News-Times Thursday. Part of the problem might be a breakdown in communication,
said Police Chief Ed Green, adding police were investigating the case from day one. In fact, he said Friday morning, police may have a suspect identified. “Law-and-justice investigations can frustrate folks,” he said. “I understand that. They don’t always move as fast as people think they should.” THE LONGTIME resident asked that her name not be published in the newspaper because she
fears her assailant might try to harm her. But she said she decided to tell her story because she wants the public’s help in identifying the man “I want to go back to work,” she said, “but I can’t. I won’t feel safe until they find him.” The woman explained that she was in the back room of the grocery store when a tall man wearing a red shirt entered through the doors. See assault reported, A5
Surveillance photo provided
The man in a red shirt is accused of assaulting a Safeway employee.
Tribe offers to drop claim for $3.9 million, old shop deed
Whidbey man, wife survive bridge collapse
By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Jennifer Buchanan / The Daily Herald, Everett
Rescuers search for victims of the bridge collapse on Interstate 5 in Skagit County. Three people suffered minor injuries.
Navy SAR helps with rescues
By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
A command master chief from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and his wife were plunged into the chilly waters of the Skagit River when a portion of the Interstate 5
bridge collapsed Thursday. A fellow sailor from the base helped rescue the couple from their submerged vehicle. While the spectacular bridge collapse in Skagit County made See bridge collapse, A4
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The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community is offering to settle a $9 million complaint against the City of Oak Harbor for desecration of an Indian burial ground beneath Pioneer Way. City officials aren’t jumping for joy over the proposal. The tribal community is demanding the city turn over the old city shop property to the tribe after converting it into a cemetery; implement a city-wide cultural resources management plan; and pay the tribe $3.9 million. “The citizens of Oak Harbor have already ponied up $4 million for reclamation and are looking at another one to two million for reburial,” Mayor Scott Dudley said. “I can’t ask them to pay another $4 million.” Tribe attorney Emily Haley sent the letter offering “compromise claims” to the city earlier this month. The Whidbey News-Times obtained a copy of the proposal through a public records request. The Swinomish surprised city officials in April by filing a complaint for damages for $9
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