Men accused of beating reported rapist are released

6-1-2010 Washington:

King County prosecutors did not file charges against two men suspected in the revenge beating of a reported rapist and instead released them from jail last week. Meanwhile, Issaquah police continue to investigate the May 23 incident.

Police said the men beat the suspect — a 31-year-old Kirkland man — with a brick and a rubber mallet after acquaintances said he raped a Bellevue woman at a residence in the 400 block of Northeast Birch Street.

Officers later recovered the broken, bloodstained mallet outside the house but could not locate the brick, court documents state.

Meanwhile, the reported rapist remained in serious condition — and in a coma for at least part of last week — at the Harborview Medical Center intensive-care unit. Police had been unable to interview the man due to the extent of his injures.

Charges against the rape suspect also remained pending until he recovered enough to be interviewed by investigators.

Police said the incident occurred after a night at a downtown Issaquah bar.



Officers responded to a rape report at a downtown Issaquah residence at about 2 a.m. May 23. Police discovered the Kirkland man, unconscious and bleeding, on the living room floor. The man had suffered a large laceration to the head and facial injuries, court documents state. Eastside Fire & Rescue medics said bones in his face might have been fractured as well. Medics transported him to Harborview for treatment.

Officers arrested the assault suspects — a 31-year-old Bellevue man and a 30-year-old Issaquah man — for the beating. Police said the Bellevue man is the husband of the woman who reported the rape.The husband admitted to striking the rape suspect in the head with a brick. He told police he then threw the brick outside, court documents state.

Police said the Issaquah man struck the rape suspect on the head and legs with the mallet.

Investigators said a group of people — including the assault suspects, the rape suspect and the woman — had gone out together to Time Out Sports Bar in downtown Issaquah earlier in the evening.

The woman left the bar because she felt ill, police said, and returned to a friend’s house, the Northeast Birch Street residence. Investigators said the Issaquah assault suspect lives at the house.

Later, the rape suspect left the bar and also returned to the residence. Investigators said the woman called her husband some time later and said she had been raped.

The assault suspects then headed to the residence, court documents continue. The men noticed the rape suspect asleep on a couch and, after he awoke, attacked him.

Police did not release information about whether the woman had undergone a medical examination after the reported rape. ..Source.. by Warren Kagarise