Lights & Sirens

The News Tribune's Lights & Sirens blog provides breaking news, updates on on-going investigations and insights into other news from the Tacoma, Pierce County and South Puget Sound criminal justice community. It also gives The News Tribune an avenue to interact with readers, answer “What was that?” questions and provides a venue for readers to ask about on-going criminal justice issues and problems in their neighborhoods. The blog aims to inform, educate and, at times, entertain with weird or wacky crime news.
The Lineup

Stacey Mulick covers Pierce County crime and safety issues for The News Tribune. She’s worked at The News Tribune since May 1998. Contact her at stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com.

Adam Lynn covers courts as part of the Crime and Breaking News Team at The News Tribune, where he’s worked since 2003. Lynn has spent nearly half of his 21-year career chronicling criminal justice matters in Washington and won reporting awards for his coverage of serial killer Robert Yates. “The Corpse Had a Familiar Face” by renowned Miami Herald reporter Edna Buchanan is among his favorite books. You can contact him at adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com.

Brian Everstine is a night breaking news and general assignment reporter for The News Tribune. The Spokane native arrived in Tacoma in the summer of 2008 and still is adjusting to life on this side of the mountains. He has written for papers in the Tri-Cities and his hometown. Contact him at brian.everstine@thenewstribune.com.

Occasional contributers:

Database reporter Ian Demsky, ian.demsky@thenewstribune.com.

General assignment reporter Mike Archbold, mike.archbold@thenewstribune.com.

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Go behind the yellow tape with the The News Tribune's Crime & Breaking News Team.
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
Posted by Adam Lynn @ 11:25:26 am

This is a special Lights & Sirens appearance by TNT editor David Zeeck. Here's what he had to say on his blog today about publishing Terapon Dang Adhahn's photo in the paper and online:

Since Tuesday the TNT had a photo of the man charged in several rapes of young South Sound girls. But we didn't decide to print it until late yesterday.

Why wait?

Tacoma police asked us not to print the image while they were out questioning witnesses in other cases linked to the man. They wanted to present half a dozen photos of various men and see whether witnesses picked that of Terapon Dang Adhahn, charged yesterday in two complex rape cases.

Their concern was that -- once Adhahn's photo was widely circulated in the press -- people might choose it in a photo line-up simply because it's familiar to them.

We agreed to the TPD request as long as the photo wasn't widely circulated. (It was being distributed in the Tillicum neighborhood by Lakewood police, seeking information in the disappearance of Adre'anna Jackson.)

That narrow distribution ended yesterday when all three Seattle television stations broadcast his photo from the Lakewood police flier, and when it appeared on news Web sites throughout the region.

Once the image was widely distributed, there was no further purpose in us withholding the image from our readers.