Pierce County prosecutors have charged a 27-year-old man with several crimes after a high-speed pursuit and foot chase near the South Hill Mall on Saturday.

Timothy James Levens was charged Monday with possession of a stolen firearm, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, felony elude, obstructing a peace officer and possession of marijuana. He's being held in Pierce County Jail in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Levens told officers he had robbed a drug dealer's home to get revenge on the man.

Court documents provide the following information:

Officers were dispatched Saturday to a recklessly driven vehicle. Officers spotted the vehicle swerving in and out of traffic. The officers tried to pull over the car and it went into the parking lot for a home improvement store in Puyallup.

The car stopped and the officer got out of his patrol car. The vehicle then took off, reaching speeds of 60 to 70 mph in the parking lot, passing in front Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

"Police observed numerous vehicles haphazardly pull to the shoulder and observed shoppers jump out of the way of the eluding vehicle," charging documents state.

Officers didn't follow the car through the parking lot but once the driver left, officers pursued him.

About a half-block from the lot, the driver stopped and ran through a yard. He jumped a fence into an apartment complex. An officer chased him on foot and caught him.

Officers found a large amount of cash - nearly $1,200 - rolled together and stuffed inside the man's right sock. The man, identified as Levens, repeatedly told officers he'd robbed a drug dealer's house because he believed the drug dealer slept with Levens' girlfriend while Levens was in jail.

Levens told officers he stole several guns, drugs and cash from the dealer.

"He was low on money and decided to seek revenge by stealing from this drug dealer," charging documents state.

Officers could see cash in the vehicle. They spotted a rifle in an open bag in the back. Officers got a warrant to search the car and seized a shotgun, two pistols, ammunition, marijuana and cash.

One of the guns had been reported stolen.

Opening statements are expected Monday in the jury trial of a Gig Harbor police sergeant accused of filing false police reports.

Matthew Dougil (seen here) is charged with two felony counts of perjury and one misdemeanor count of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant.

Prosecutors allege the 11-year veteran of the Gig Harbor force lied in police reports he filed as part of a drug investigation that resulted in two people being convicted.

Those convictions since have been vacated, and the city paid $45,000 in damages to a third man who was ordered to attend drug court as part of the case.

Investigators contend in court documents that, among other things, Dougil wrote in an official report that police searched a confidential informant who was used to buy drugs from the men when in fact the informant was not searched prior to the transaction.

The supervisor of the prosecuting attorney's office drug unit later told colleagues he would not have prosecuted the men had he known Dougil was alleged to have lied on the reports, according to documents filed in the case.

Dougil's attorney, Brett Purtzer, has said his client is innocent and intends to present a vigorous defense.

Testimony before Superior Court Judge Rosanne Buckner is expected to last about a week.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged three men in connection with a home-invasion robbery south of Roy last week.

Prosecutors allege two of the men - 25-year-old Myron Romeo and 20-year-old Richard Weisenbach - went into the home and tied up both residents, according . The third man, 29-year-old Travis I. Calloway, is suspected of driving the getaway car. Investigators have said they believed the men might robbed the wrong people.

The three were charged with first-degree robbery with a firearm enhancement, unlawful possession of a firearm, theft of a firearm and felony harassment with a firearm enhancement.

Court documents provide the following information:

The victim told deputies he and his wife were in bed when a man appeared in the doorway and pointed a gun at them. The man, later identified as Romeo, wore a camo-style helmet, dark pants, black hi-top shoes and rubber gloves.

The robber threatened to kill the husband and wife several times and indicated he was serious as evidence by the rubber gloves. The robber directed the husband to pull the phone cord out of the wall, then used a phone charger cord to tie the hands and feet of the wife. The robber also shoved a sock in her mouth.

A second robber, identified as Weisenbach, wore a dark scarf over his face and used the light of his cell phone to look around the living room.

The robbers forced the husband to open his safe, then took a metal cash box. The husband was then forced to lie on the floor and his hands were tied behind his back with cords.

Weisenbach was reportedly talking on his phone and, at one point, told someone on the other end, "Turn around and come back," court documents state.

The robbers took a gun, the victims' laptop, prescription pills and savings bonds, then fled.

The victims managed to get free and called police.

A deputy spotted a car whose occupants matched the general description of the robbers. The driver, identified as Calloway, told deputies he didn't know anything about a robbery. Romeo appeared nervous and kept looking at the floorboards, where deputies spotted white pills.

A deputy asked Calloway if he could look inside the truck and Calloway agreed. The deputy spotted two army helmets and a flack jacket inside. The deputy ordered Calloway to the ground at gunpoint.

"Look, I didn't do the robbery," he reportedly told the deputy. "I was just giving them a ride."

Deputies took all three into custody. Beside the jacket and helmets, deputies found a small metal box, black computer case, small revolver and semi-automatic handgun in the trunk. They also found a cellphone and dark-colored rag on the ground outside of the passenger door.

"One life lost. One life wasted."

Those were the sentiments of Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson on Wednesday as he sentenced 22-year-old Tristan Ryng to two years, three months in prison for his role in the death of his girlfriend, 18-year-old India Escobar.

Ryng pleaded guilty last month to vehicular homicide in the April 2008 wreck that killed Escobar, a popular student at the Tacoma School of the Arts.

Ryng admitted to driving recklessly when he sped across a parking lot and slammed into a tree. Escobar suffered a ruptured aorta in the crash and later died.

Police contended the couple had taken LSD prior to the wreck.

The sentence imposed by Cuthbertson was the high end of the standard range, a punishment that deputy prosecutor Tim Jones called "rather embarrassing considering the loss of a life."

The victim's aunt, Kara Murphy, flew to Tacoma from Connecticut to attend the sentencing.

Murphy told Cuthbertson her niece was an "incredible young lady" who had the ability to make people feel special.

"Everybody thinks India was their best friend," she said. "We don't have her any more."

Jaime Escobar, a member of the Army, traveled to Tacoma from his assignment in Kuwait for the hearing.

Escobar testified that he and his only child were very close despite his frequent absences and that he misses her every day.

He then turned his attention to Ryng, who leaned on crutches for support. He was run down by a hit-and-run driver in November and suffered multiple injuries.

"I trusted you with my daughter," Escobar said. "Why? Because my daughter was in love with you."

He then accused Ryng of pressuring India Escobar into taking drugs and said she died because of Ryng's "stupidity."

Ryng's attorney, Robert Martin Krinsky, called Wednesday "a devastating day for Mr. Ryng."

"The love of his life died," Krinsky said.

Given a chance to speak for himself, Ryng apologized.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen," he said. "I'm just so sorry. That's all I can say."

Shortly thereafter, a corrections officer led Ryng away.

(This photo of the couple was posted on India Escobar's MySpace page at the time of her death).

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a 29-year-old man with four crimes after he tried to elude sheriff's deputies at speeds of more than 100 mph in a stolen car.

Fulton K. Santos Jr. is charged with second-degree assault, attempting to elude a police vehicle, theft of a motor vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Court documents give the following account of what led to the charges:

A Pierce County sheriff's deputies tried to stop a stolen car just after 12:40 a.m. Friday in the 10400 block of Canyon Road East.

The drive sped off. The deputy, his lights and siren activated, pursued the speeding car.

The driver went more than 100 mph on surface streets and eventually got onto Meridian Avenue East. The deputy moved into the center lane.

The driver peered over his shoulder and twice swerved at the deputy in attempts to hit the patrol car. The deputy wasn't struck.

The pursuit ended (the charging documents don't say any more about why). The driver and stolen car remained in the area. Other deputies spotted the stolen car.

The driver failed to negotiate a turn in the 13800 block of Woodland Avenue East and crashed into a retaining wall. The driver got out and ran.

After a short foot chase, the driver was arrested.

The driver, identified as Santos, reportedly told deputies he stole the car from a grocery store in the 11600 block of Canyon Road East.

"Santos said he fled in the car and drove at the deputy because he wanted to get away," court documents state.

I didn't quite get to this one on Friday ...

Pierce County prosecutors have filed charges against a 21-year-old man accused of robbing two Jiffy Lube shops while armed with a gun.

Willie S. Lewis is being held in Pierce County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. He was charged Thursday with three counts of first-degree robbery.

Court documents provide the details.

The first robbery occurred at the shop in the 12200 block of Meridian Avenue East on July 11. A man, later identified as Lewis, entered the shop's back door just after 7:10 p.m. He wielded a gun and demanded cash.

"When the employee asked if Lewis was joking, Lewis racked the slide of the gun and indicated it was not a joke," court documents state.

After getting an undisclosed of cash, Lewis fled. The employee provided deputies with a general description of the robber.

Eleven days later, the Jiffy Lube in the 2200 block of Mildred Street West in University Place was robbed. The robber walked into the service bay holding a gun on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m., just before closing time.

The robber, later identified as Lewis, demanded cash from the register and the employees' wallets and cell phones.

After the robbery, Lewis fled to a nearby car. Employees provided University Place officers with a partial license plate number of the getaway car. They also reported the robber had a specific tattoo on his neck.

"An employee also reported that prior to the robbery there he received a 'strange' telephone call from someone asking for directions," court documents state.

Lewis, a former Jiffy Lube employee, was identified as a suspect in the robberies. Tacoma police stopped a car driven by Lewis and arrested him late Wednesday. A gun was recovered from inside.

Prosecutors charged a second man in the University Place Jiffy Lube robbery. He's suspected of driving Lewis to and from the auto shop. The man claimed he drove Lewis to the Jiffy Lube because Lewis said he wanted to get a job application.

Jennifer Rice, the former Tacoma teacher convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old student, was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison Friday.

There was no argument over the what Rice's punishment would be. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Gary Steiner followed state statutes in imposing the sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

"This was a terrible violation of trust," Steiner told Rice before imposing her sentence. "I think the acts themselves speak to the significance of the crime."

Rice made no excuses for her behavior and recognized the hurt she's caused to many people.

"I am desperately sorry for what I have done," Rice said. "My behavior was careless, impulsive and selfish.

"I am here today as a result of my poor decisions."

Steiner convicted Rice in April of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree child molestation and two counts of third-degree rape. He found the kidnapping and child molestation charges were predatory offenses because the victim was a student. The predatory designation - required when a teacher is accused of certain sex crimes - meant Rice faced stiffer sentencing requirements.

Prosecutors contended that Rice had a sexual relationship with the 10-year-old boy for several months while she was a teacher at Tacoma's McKinley Elementary School. The ordeal came to light in August 2007, when Rice sneaked the boy out of his home and drove him to Ellensburg. The two had had sex at a rest stop before she returned him to his home, court documents alleged.

During the course of the investigation, detectives discovered Rice also had sex twice with the boy's older brother in July 2007.

Rice chose to have a "stipulated facts" trial during which an agreed upon set of facts in the case was presented by prosecutors and Rice's defense team to Steiner. The judge then reviewed the facts before making his decision. The victims did not have to testify.

Neither the victims nor their parents attended Friday's sentencing hearing. Attorneys for the family, which has sued the Tacoma, Bethel and Yelm school districts, did attend but declined to comment afterward.

The family's civil suit alleges the schools districts negligently hired and supervised Rice and didn't do enough to protect the students from her.

Thirteen friends and relatives of Rice, including her parents and husband, attended the sentencing hearing and reiterated their support for her. Rice's father, husband and a friend spoke on her behalf during the hearing. None excused her behavior but told Steiner they still loved and supported her.

"We would give anything to change what's happened," her husband said.

The state has revoked Rice's licenses to work as a teacher and counselor.

Pierce County prosecutors have decided not to seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing his estranged wife and stepdaughter with an ax at their home south of Orting earlier this year.

Prosecutor Gerry Horne said he based his decision on Charles W. Nettlebeck's documented history of mental illness.

"It is something that should be considered as to whether or not the death penalty would be appropriate," Horne said.

He added he didn't believe Nettlebeck's history of schizophrenia rose to the level of being a defense in the criminal trial but should be considered in the death penalty decision.

Nettlebeck, 52, still faces life in prison without the possibility of release if convicted as charged in the deaths of Barbara Jo Nettlebeck, 52, (pictured here) and Bretta Joan Hawkins, 33. Prosecutors have charged Charles Nettlebeck with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, the state's highest crime. He is scheduled to go to trial in March.

Charles Nettlebeck told investigators he was at his home in the 27200 block of 168th Avenue Court East with his estranged wife the afternoon of March 13. They got into an argument inside the house.

He grabbed an ax and swung it at Barbara Jo Nettlebeck's head, killing her, charging documents state. Charles Nettlebeck then went outside and swung the ax at Hawkins, who had been tending to the horses. He hit her in the head several times, charging documents state. Hawkins died the next day from her injuries at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Barbara Jo Nettlebeck worked as a corrections officer for King County for nine years. Her daughter, who lived in Milton, was a police specialist with Renton police for seven years.

A man accused of hitting and killing a bicyclist in Puyallup last year, then fleeing the scene has pleaded guilty in the case.

Blair Jensen entered guilty pleas this morning to charges of reckless driving and failure to remain at the scene of an injury accident that resulted in death. Christina Ripple, Jensen's girlfriend at the time, also pleaded guilty this morning to second-degree rendering criminal assistance.

Both will be sentenced Sept. 18.

Prosecutors had alleged Jensen was racing another vehicle Sept. 8, 2008, when he struck John M. McRae III in the 2600 block of East Main Avenue. The 51-year-old McRae had been riding his bike at the time.

Jensen fled the scene but was later identified as the suspected driver in the deadly crash. He eventually surrendered to police.

Prosecutors contended Ripple helped Jensen in the days after the crash.

Jensen faces between three years, 10 months and five years, one month in prison when he's sentenced. Deputy prosecutor Tim Jones said today that he'll ask for the high-end of the standard range for Jensen.

Ripple faces between no jail time and one year in custody.

An 18-year-old man charged with shooting another teenager to death on a Tacoma street over the weekend pleaded not guilty today to a charge of first-degree murder.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge John McCarthy ordered Xavier M. Magana jailed in lieu of $1 million bail at the request of deputy prosecutor Phil Sorensen. Magana also is charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Magana is accused of shooting 18-year-old Alrick Hendricks to death on Sunday evening in the 5500 block of East G Street.

Witnesses told police Magana and Hendricks had attended the same graduation party earlier that day. Magana left the party but returned and challenged Hendricks to a fight, according to court documents. The two reportedly had fought in the past with Hendricks prevailing.

At one point, Magana pulled out a pistol and fired at Hendricks, felling him with a shot as he tried to run away, the documents state. Prosecutors contend Magana then walked to where Hendricks lay prone on the ground and fired several more shots into him.

The gunman fled the scene.

A police SWAT team arrested Magana on Wednesday at a house in the 9200 block of South Sheridan. Magana was armed with a handgun and is reported to have held the gun to his own head during a standoff before being taken into custody, Sorensen said Thursday.

Both Hendricks and Magana were convicted of crimes as juveniles, but acquaintances and relatives said the young men were trying to leave that in their pasts and move forward with productive lives.

Hendricks' family has set up a fund to raise money to help pay his funeral expenses. Donations can be made to the Alrick Hendricks Memorial Fund at any KeyBank branch.

The state's Commission on Judicial Conduct has scheduled a hearing to determine whether Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht violated judicial canons by allegedly trading cash and legal advice for sex, threatening two men, using racially insensitive language and engaging in unfair campaign conduct.

Hecht denies all the charges.

The so-called "fact-finding" hearing will begin at 9 a.m. Nov. 2 at the King County Courthouse in Seattle.
King County Superior Court Judge John P. Erlick will preside over the hearing. Ten members of the commission will serve as the decision-making body.

Both Hecht's attorney, Wayne Fricke, and disciplinary counsel Paul Taylor will be able to call and cross-examine witnesses at the hearing.

Following the hearing, the panel will decide whether to dismiss the charges against Hecht or impose sanctions of some kind. That could include a recommendation that the state Supreme Court remove Hecht from office.

Hecht also faces criminal charges of felony harassment and patronizing a prostitute. He's pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in Pierce County Superior Court on Sept. 8.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a 39-year-old man with assault after he threw hot coffee on two convenience store clerks in Lakewood last month.

Richard Lee Myers was charged Thursday with two counts of second-degree assault.

Court documents provide the following information:

Lakewood police were called to the 7-Eleven store in the 7700 block of Custer Road West at 10:10 a.m. June 21. Two clerks told officers that a man entered the store with a used coffee cup.

The patron, later identified as Myers, threw away the used cup, selected a new one and filled it with hot coffee.

"The victims told Myers that he needed to pay full price for the coffee rather than a refill price," charging documents state. "Myers became enraged and threw the hot coffee on (the victims)."

The patron fled in a vehicle.

The victims suffered burns. One had burns to the face; the other to the side of his chest. Paramedics evaluated the injuries at the scene.

The clerks gave police officers the license plate number of the patron's vehicle. Officers also reviewed surveillance video of what happened.

Investigators researched the registered owner of the vehicle, then prepared a photomontage that included a photo of the registered owner. Neither victim could identify anyone in the montage.

"The investigator noted that the registered owner's brother, identified as Myers, was associated with the registered owner in other investigations," charging documents state. "The investigator showed the victims a photo of Myers and both instantly identified Myers as the assailant."