Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
www.issaquahreporter.com
Friday, July 25, 2014
Bank robber now has a nom de guerre
During each robbery, he’s worn black sunglasses and a baseball cap, which led investigators to give him a nickname that acknowledges the robber’s penchant for sun protection. He’s also worn different hooded sweatshirts and a scarf over his face in two robberies. COURTESY PHOTO.
The man suspected of three bank robberies in Issaquah is now being called the "Summertime Heat Robber" by police. The Seattle Safe Streets Task Force now believes the man be responsible for bank robberies in Issaquah on Feb. 22 at approximately 10:45 a.m.; June 25 at approximately 12:15 p.m.; and most recently, July 11 at 2 p.m., all at Key Bank. Further investigation led the task force to revise its consideration of a connection between the subject and a June 21, Des Moines robbery, while identifying two other robberies as possibly connected. Witnesses describe the man as a white male, between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet
10 inches tall, with thin, dark hair. During each robbery, he’s worn black sunglasses and a baseball cap, which led investigators to give him a nickname that acknowledges the robber’s penchant for sun protection. He’s also worn different hooded sweatshirts and a scarf over his face in two robberies. The suspect made physical threats and, on one occasion, implied that he had a weapon. During the July robbery, he knocked over a security guard on the way out of the bank. He should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information as to the identity or whereabouts of the suspected robber should refrain from approaching
A mother’s anguish
Son leaves rehab only to die of suspected heroin overdose a day later By Linda Ball Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter
Kevin Velasco was released from rehab Saturday evening, July 12. He’d been there almost a month, and should have been there until July 17, but he was expelled for throwing a rock which hit a staff member. Had he not thrown that rock, he’d most likely still be alive. Velasco, 18, left his mom’s house on Mercer Island Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning, Kevin was dead from an apparent heroin overdose. He was delivered to Swedish Hospital in Issaquah Monday morning, July 14, at 7 a.m., dead on arrival according to a spokesman for Swedish. Conchita Velasco said he’d been in the Lakemont area of Bellevue, with a friend she’d always been uncomfortable with. Bellevue police responded to a Bellevue address for an overdose. The Velasco family, Conchita, Kevin and his younger brother, Edwin, used to live in Issaquah, but they moved to Mercer Island over three years ago to get away from a bad group of kids Kevin had become friends with. Kevin attended Issaquah High School for a short time, then he attended Mercer Island High School for the second half of his sophomore year and all of his junior year. Edwin will be a seventh-grader at Islander Middle School this fall. “I was glad we left Issaquah,” Conchita said. Before he went to rehab this most recent time, he’d been detained in Issaquah by IPD for a probation violation. He’d also gone to a drug rehab facility in Spokane.
Kevin and his mother, Conchita. She was worried about his association with some friends. COURTESY PHOTO. “He was working very hard not to be on drugs,” his mother said. She said she had found methadone in his room, with no prescription. Methadone is often used to wean a heroin addict off the drug. His friends from this most recent stint in rehab said a counselor was willing to write a letter that said he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone with the rock, that it was just horseplay. The day Kevin was brought to Swedish, he and his mom were supposed to appear in court to explain why he wasn’t still in the facility. Talking to Conchita, Edwin, and family
friend, Billy Mendez, by all accounts Kevin was a much loved kid, who like so many in recent years, had fallen victim to the highly addictive drug. Victoria Tranilla, who volunteers at The Meals Program in Issaquah, said Kevin thought of her as a second mom. “Sixteen- to eighteen-year-old girls are on the street on heroin – they sell drugs at the meal program – under the fire station across from City Hall.” Tranilla said she knew Kevin well. “Kids dropped him off at the ER at Swedish,” she said. “He was just dropped, like an animal. Somebody needs to pay. I’m angry.” Conchita said Kevin always told her how much he loved her. She knew of his addiction because he talked to her about it. He also told her he had a premonition that if he did drugs again he wouldn’t wake up. So when the police called her Monday morning from the hospital, her worst fear was confirmed. Wednesday evening, July 16, there was an impromptu vigil for Kevin at the Issaquah Skate Park, where he loved to skate. Organized by Tranilla’s son, Thor Rystad, approximately 250 people attended. The cross, flowers, balloons and well wishes are all at Conchita’s sister’s home now. Friends spoke lovingly of him on a poster board and the cross. One particularly poignant inscription from another boy, said he wished for the “good old days” before addiction took over their lives. At a joint meeting of the Issaquah and See kevin, 2
him and is urged to contact law enforcement immediately. Anyone with information that can help identify the suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Callers to Crime Stoppers may remain anonymous and are eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $1,000 if the information leads to an arrest and charge of the person involved. Callers also may contact task force officer Det. Steve Hoover at 425-452-7868. The task force includes members from the FBI, Bellevue Police Department, Auburn Police Department, King County Sheriff ’s Office and Seattle Police Department.
Quick work by EFR saves man's life A 54-year-old Sammamish man who was mowing his lawn experienced a sudden onset of chest pain, July 7. When his wife started to take him to the hospital, he lost consciousness in their vehicle. She called 911. Units from Eastside Fire and Rescue along with Medic 19 of the Redmond Fire Department were dispatched to the 29000 block of Northeast 25th Way at 6:36 p.m. Sammamish Police also responded and were able to secure a safe area for firefighters to administer aid to the man on the roadway. At 6:38 p.m. EFR Aid 82 arrived to find the man with no pulse and not breathing. The crew removed the patient from the vehicle and began providing CPR to the point where it looked as though he was showing signs of life, even though his heart was not beating. The CPR was so effective that the patient’s body was being oxygenated as if the heart was still beating. In addition, the EFR crews provided four defibrillator shocks prior to the arrival of the medics. Medic 19 responders intubated the patient and provided medications, while crews continued CPR. The crew of EFR Engine 81 arrived to help provide addition CPR help. The patient was shocked an additional eight times with the defibrillator. Thirty-five minutes after Aid 82 arrived the man was alive and taken to Overlake Hospital by Medic 19. He is now home and back to normal.