Sara Jean Green / The Seattle Times (TNS)
SEATTLE —Two men who have been jailed since September on gun charges are now facing hate crime and burglary charges for their alleged roles in Seattle and Renton home invasions targeting Asian residents.
Seattle police have previously said groups of three to seven armed assailants committed 14 home-invasion robberies between June and August in four South Seattle ZIP codes. The investigation is ongoing.
Javez Tubbs, 32, and Demarcus Pate, 28, were arrested in September along with two other men and a 16-year-old boy who are all believed to be members of the same robbery crew.
While the teenager was charged at the time with robbery, burglary and other crimes,the adult suspects were each charged with varying counts of a firearm charge, depending on the number of guns police found in their homes, court records show.
Police have since linked Pate to three home invasions and Tubbs to two of the three committed in roughly 1 1/2 hours early June 25 in Seattle and Renton, according to charges filed Feb. 23. In two of the cases, the home invaders yelled “Seattle police” before kicking down doors to gain entry, say the charges filed against Tubbs and Pate.
The men were both charged with first-degree burglary, third-degree assault and a hate crime, accused of pistol whipping one resident because of their perceptions of the man’s race, according to the charges.
“The armed intruders took more than $20,000, handbags and watches from the three burglary scenes,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Ian Michels-Slettvet wrote in charging papers. “The June 25 burglaries happened within the context of a pattern of home invasions across the Puget Sound that targeted Asian households, causing significant trauma and fear for Asian community members.”
The 75-page document detailing the investigation into the June 25 home invasions shows detectives used cellphone records, video surveillance footage,…
Read the full article here
