A Pierce County jury today delivered guilty verdicts against four men charged with murdering another man outside a Spanaway lounge last year.

Mike Robert McCreven, Carl Lee Smith, Terry Nolan and Barry Ford were convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Dana Beaudine.

The jury also found Nolan guilty of second-degree assault for hitting another man over the head with a sap during an April 5 fight outside the Bull's Eye Sports Lounge.

The defendants are to be sentenced July 24.

Prosecutors contended the four men attacked Beaudine because he made a disparaging remark about their outlaw motorcycle gang.

Prosecutors could not prove which of the men stabbed Beaudine. McCreven, Smith, Nolan and Ford all were convicted as accomplices.

A previous story on the case follows:

=> Read more!

The National Insurance Crime Bureau today released its annual rankings of the nation's top spots for car theft and several areas in the state continue to rank high.

The bureau ranks Yakima third, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area 26th and Spokane 35th car theft rates for 2008. Overall, the agency reports that the auto theft in the state dropped 25 percent, going from 42,251 stolen cars in 2007 to 31,681 stolen vehicles last year.

(A word of caution about this survey ... the geographic definitions for cities have changed over the years. For example, "Tacoma" used to be all of Pierce County. Now Tacoma has been added to the metropolitan area that also includes Seattle and Bellevue and frankly all of King County and other counties. It appears that Vanouver, Wash. is lumped together with Portland, Ore.)

The National Insurance Crime Bureau put out this list of Washington cities with the highest car theft rates:

City Thefts Theft Rate

1. Yakima 1,828 779.32

2.Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue 17,561 525.02

3. Spokane 2,211 477.87

4. Vancouver/Portland 7,694 348.55

5. Longview 307 303.20

6. Mount Vernon-Anacortes 282 238.98

7. Olympia 497 202.71

8. Kennewick-Richland-Pasco 475 201.41

9. Bremerton-Silverdale 369 153.90

10. Wenatchee 139 128.47

*The theft rate is based on the number of thefts per 100,000 inhabitants using 2008 U.S. Census Population estimates.

Here are the Top 10 most stolen vehicles in the state, according to the NICB:

1. 1992 Honda Accord
2. 1995 Honda Civic
3. 1989 Toyota Camry
4. 1994 Acura Integra
5. 1993 Saturn SL
6. 1994 Nissan Sentra
7. 1995 Toyota Pickup
8. 1995 Nissan Pathfinder
9. 1993 Subaru Legacy
10. 1994 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee

A man wanted in a Kitsap County home-invasion robbery and possible murder could be headed south in a stolen car.

An elderly man walked into his home in the Colchester area east of Port Orchard this afternoon and found his wife dead "with obvious injuries," a Kitsap County Sheriff's Office spokesman told the Kitsap Sun. The couple's white 1993 Cadillac Seville was missing.

The car has a Seattle Sonics sticker on the back with a Washington license plate, number 346-RPP. The man is considered "armed and dangerous."

The suspect is a white man in his 20s or 30s, wearing a blue sweatshirt and a tan baseball hat. Authorities believe he is carrying a .38 Special revolver, according to the Sun. Ferries and Narrows Bridge toll employees were notified, and Tacoma Police were told to lookout for the Cadillac, according to scanner chatter.

A car stolen from Tacoma has turned up in the Tri-Cities.

The Subraru Impreza was involved in a police pursuit. The driver was arrested.

Here's the story from the Tri-City Herald.

Here's the news release from the Oregon State Police:

News Release from: Oregon State Police
INVESTIGATION OF INJURY CRASH INVOLVING JUVENILE IN STOLEN VEHICLE ATTEMPTING TO ELUDE OFFICERS NEAR ASHLAND
Posted: October 15th, 2008 7:22 PM

Oregon State Police are continuing the investigation into a traffic crash involving a 15-year old male who crashed the stolen vehicle he was operating into the back of parked ODOT vehicles while attempting to elude Jackson County Sheriff's Department and Ashland Police Department on Interstate 5 near Ashland. The juvenile male received serious but non-life threatening injuries in the crash.

On October 15, 2008 at approximately 1:20 p.m. Jackson County Sheriff's Office, with the assistance of Ashland Police Department, attempted to stop a reported stolen 2004 Ford Expedition operated by a 15-year male from Tacoma, Washington, northbound on Interstate 5 near milepost 14. The juvenile operator refused to yield and continued northbound at a high rate of speed, but due to erratic driving and the approaching construction zone the officers backed off and kept the vehicle in sight as it continued to elude.

Near milepost 16 the operator lost control and crashed into the rear of an ODOT dump truck and backhoe parked on the right shoulder of the freeway. ODOT workers were in the vicinity near the collision but were not injured.

On impact, the vehicle caught fire with operator still secured in the driver's seat by safety restraints. Police and other rescue personnel extinguished the fire and removed the operator who was subsequently transported to Rogue Valley Medical Center with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

OSP is continuing the investigation. Ashland Fire and Rescue, Jackson County Sheriff's Office, Medford Police Department, Ashland Police Department and ODOT assisted at the scene.

A man stole a Honda Civic at gunpoint in Parkland this afternoon, firing a shot at its owner as he drove away. No one was hit.

The car was taken at 3 p.m. in the 600 block of 113th Street South, Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jerry Bates said.

The victim knew the suspect by his gang name, but it wasn't clear if the theft was gang-related.

Area law enforcement agencies will be announcing plans this morning to create an auto theft task force to target thieves in the South King and North Pierce county areas.

A press conference on the formation of the Preventing Auto Theft through Regional Operational Links (PATROL) task force begins at 10 a.m. in Kent.

The task force will involve representatives of 18 law enforcement agencies and will partner with the King County Prosecutor's Office.

This new task force is the second to be created in recent days.

Last week, the state awarded the City of Lakewood $530,000 to establish a countywide auto theft task force.

Lakewood police is the lead agency. Tacoma, Fife, Puyallup, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Patrol and other jurisdictions are expected to participate.

We're too late for the print edition on this one, but the Pierce County Sheriff's Department was investigating an unusual carjacking Thursday evening.

According to spokeswoman Det. Lynelle Anderson:

The victim told police he was at a self-storage facility in the 7600 block of River Road. Around 8 p.m., a black Chevy pickup pulled up. There were three people inside. One pointed a gun at the victim and demanded his wallet and they keys to his Chevy Silverado.

Here's where it gets a little odd. The victim said the carjackers ordered him into the back of their pickup truck while one of them drove off in his vehicle.

He was dropped off in the 5600 block of 66th Avenue. Deputies discovered his credit card had been used at one of the Emerald Queen Casinos.

Semaj Booker has a lot of explaining to do, according to recently filed court documents.

Pierce County deputy prosecutor Fred Wist has summoned the 10-year-old boy into court June 16 for a hearing.

The topic: Semaj's reported failure to abide by a number of court-ordered conditions that allowed him to escape sentencing on three criminal convictions last year.

In a "petition and declaration to revoke deferred disposition" filed yesterday, Wist asserts that Semaj "substantially violated the terms" of the deferred sentencing by:

1) Providing "a false or misleading statement to a public servant on 5/27/08 by giving a false name and date of birth to Port of Seattle Police."
2) Failing to complete Functional Family Therapy.
3) Failing "to comply with curfew by leaving his residence without any supervision at approximately 0300 hours (3 a.m.) on 5/27/08 and taking public transportation to Sea-Tac Airport in King County, Washington."
4) Failing to make any payments toward his legal financial obligations.

Nos. 1 and 3 from above stem from his jaunt last week to Sea-Tac via bus and subsequent attempt to get about a Southwest Airlines flight without a ticket.

Nos. 2 and 4 stem from his convictions last year for car theft, attempting to elude police and driving without a license. A judge required Semaj to complete family therapy and pay restitution to the woman whose car he ruined while fleeing police.

We'll continue to monitor his situation and dutifully report the outcome.

The NW Insurance Council -- a nonprofit, public-education organization funded by member insurance companies serving Washington, Oregon and Idaho -- released these car theft stats today.

Nationally Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue area ranked #16 for car theft per capita.

Hotbed: Yakima, Seattle, Spokane rank in nation’s Top 25 for auto theft; state’s theft rate drops 5.2 percent in 2007

Here's a list of Washington cities with the highest theft rates:

City/Rate per 100,000 pop
1. Yakima/ 814.38
2. Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue/ 740.81
3. Spokane/ 609.20
4. Mount Vernon-Anacortes/ 338.50
5. Longview/ 335.43
6. Olympia/ 324.45
7. Kennewick-Richland-Pasco/ 258.09
8. Bellingham/ 201.56
9. Bremerton-Silverdale/ 191.78
10. Wenatchee/ 155.83

Here are Washington’s most stolen vehicles

1. 1991 Honda Accord
2. 1995 Honda Civic
3. 1990 Toyota Camry
4. 1994 Acura Integra
5. 1994 Saturn SL
6. 1985 Toyota Pickup
7. 1994 Nissan Sentra
8. 1994 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee
9. 1993 Dodge Caravan
10. 1989 Honda Prelude

A little historical context from Stacey:

For several years, the greater Tacoma area has appeared in the top 25 nationally for car theft rate.

For the 2005 report, Tacoma-Pierce County was lumped in Seattle and Bellevue (as well as all of King, Snohomish and Island counties).

From a story I did in 2006:

The National Insurance Crime Bureau puts together the annual report using Metropolitan Statistical Areas, which are urban areas defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The office revised its definitions for statistical areas in 2000, putting Tacoma and Seattle together after a public review process, an agency spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Tacoma police investigated 3,211 reports of car thefts in 2007. That was less than 2006, when they received 3,601.

The Washington State Patrol is reporting a trooper running the plate of car led to the discovery of a bunch of stolen property.

A random records check on a 1992 Honda Accord by a Washington State Patrol auto theft detective resulted in the discovery of a stolen car full of stolen property. The stolen property linked both occupants in the vehicle to several other thefts that occurred this week in Federal Way.

The arrest and discovery of the additional stolen property occurred yesterday on Military Road and 31 Avenue S at approximately 2:00 PM. While returning from an interview on an unrelated case, the auto theft detective observed the Honda Accord and submitted a records check on the car. Moments later the detective was advised that the Honda was stolen. As additional troopers and officers positioned themselves to stop the stolen car, the driver attempted to flee, but struck a WSP patrol car and drove into a ditch. After crashing, both suspects in the stolen car fled on foot but were quickly arrested.

Inside the stolen Honda were numerous items that were quickly recognized by Federal Way police officers assisting on this traffic stop as items that were listed on theft reports from recent burglaries in the City of Federal Way. Troopers and officers from both agencies will be continuing their investigation based on the recovered property in linking the two suspects to additional thefts that occurred earlier this week.

The driver, [NAME REDACTED], 19-years-old from Federal Way, is a convicted felon and has several outstanding warrants for his arrest. He was booked into the King County jail on auto theft charges, for being in possession of a stolen vehicle and his outstanding warrants. Additionally, he was driving on a suspended driver’s license.

The passenger, [NAME REDACTED], 20-years-old from Kent, is also a convicted felon. She is currently on active supervision from the Department of Corrections. She was booked in the King County Jail on charges of being in possession of stolen property.

(The News Tribune does not generally report the names of suspects before prosecutors file charges against them.)

The Oregon State Police have arrested a Tacoma man and Kent woman who might be responsible for stealing eight vehicles in a one-week period in Washington and Oregon.

The two were stopped Tuesday afternoon in a car reported stolen in Albany, the agency reported. Troopers were tipped about the car by the Oregon Department of Transportation. Transportation officials had provided gas to a disabled car and gave the license plate number to troopers.

The 28-year-old Tacoma man was arrested on suspicion of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, first-degree theft, first-degree kidnap, coercion and unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

The 25-year-old Kent woman was arrested on suspicion of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, first-degree theft, criminal possession of a forged instrument (checks) and fugitive from justice. She has a warrant out of Washington for probation violations.

Here's a little more from OSP.

Both were lodged in Klamath County Jail. The kidnap and coercion charges on him are based upon allegations that between January 16th and 22nd the female suspect was not allowed to leave due to threats against her.

The preliminary investigation indicates that since January 16th the suspects were involved in the theft of eight vehicles, and an attempted theft of another. Vehicles allegedly were stolen and then abandoned when they were low on gas, at which time another vehicle was stolen during their travels from Klamath Falls to Federal Way, Washington, and back to Klamath Falls where the woman's parents reportedly live.

Troopers are working with police departments in Klamath Falls, Medford, Eugene/Springfield, Federal Way, Portland, and Albany to confirm vehicle thefts and locate stolen cars that were reportedly left at undetermined locations in these areas. Two vehicles recovered in the Klamath Falls area during this period are believed to be related to these suspects' activities.