Girl, 3 adults, charged with robbery in transit-tunnel beating

A 15-year-old Seattle girl was charged on Wednesday with first-degree robbery for the beating of another 15-year-old girl in the Westlake Center transit tunnel that has prompted a review of King County Metro's security policy.

The girl was charged with robbery rather than second-degree assault because the charge is a more serious charge and allows prosecutors to seek a longer sentence, according to King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office spokesman Dan Donohoe. He said a first-degree assault charge could not be filed against the girl because the victim did not sustain serious injuries.

The Times is not naming the girl because she has been charged in juvenile court.

Donohoe said she is being charged as a juvenile because of her age and lack of a previous criminal history.

If convicted, the 15-year-old faces a standard range sentence of about two years in juvenile detention.

Three other people — an 18-year-old man, an 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man — were also charged with first-degree robbery for their alleged involvement in the Jan. 28 incident that was captured on security video.

If convicted as charged, two of the adult defendants, Latroy D. Hayman, 20, and Dominique L. Whitaker, 18, each face a sentence of 2 ½ years to 3 ½ years in prison. The third adult defendant, Tyrone J. Watson, 18, faces a sentence of three to four years in prison.

The charges stem from an incident in which 15-year-old victim was beaten and kicked in the head in the transit tunnel at Westlake Center while security personnel with Olympic Security Services watched and did not intervene.

The security guards' actions have prompted a review of King County Metro's policy which currently prohibits unarmed guards from intervening in suspicious behavior or criminal activity.

Instead, guards are instructed to "observe and report" information to the Metro Transit Control Center, which relays requests for assistance to law-enforcement, according to Metro.

According to the Sheriff's Office, the victim told police the incident began when a group of teens surrounded her inside the downtown Macy's.

The victim told law enforcement officers the other teens threatened to rob and kill her, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Police broke up that confrontation, but the group followed the victim and her friend into the transit tunnel, according to the Sheriff's Office.

In the video, the alleged assailant can be seen shoving the victim to the pavement kicking her several times while she's down.

According to Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart, the victim was not hospitalized but did have injuries and saw a doctor.

A 17-year-old male suspect is still being sought, according to the sheriff's office.

According to the mother of one of the men charged Wednesday, the two girls have a long history of fighting each other and both have been victimized by the other.

"I'm not trying to say what anybody did was right. They were all wrong. My son was wrong to even be there," said the woman, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution. "But these two girls used to be good friends until they started dating each other's boyfriends, cheating, saying ugly things about each other on MySpace and stirring things up," she said.

The 15-year-old suspect is scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Thursday in Juvenile Court. She is being held in juvenile detention.

The three adult defendants are being held in the King County Jail on $100,000 bail and will be arraigned on Feb. 24 at King County Courthouse.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com