Getting Tougher In Federal Way -- Police Spread Anti-Cruising Effort To Parking Lots

FEDERAL WAY - A city ban on cruising around SeaTac Mall has only served to turn other nearby shopping-center parking lots into playgrounds for young cruisers on weekend nights.

The situation has gotten so bad that local merchants have agreed to cooperate with police in a new offensive: Police are issuing criminal-trespassing citations to people who hang out at the shopping centers after stores close.

Merchants say the cruisers not only drive their cars through their lots looking for a good time, but they also are responsible for vandalism and litter.

Police, meanwhile, say that while their crackdown on cruising at the sprawling SeaTac Mall has succeeded, they've just driven cruisers to other places in Federal Way. They hope their latest tactic will drive cruisers from the city for good.

In the first test of the crackdown, King County police last weekend cited 91 teenagers and young adults for criminal trespassing at the SeaTac Village Center, across the street from SeaTac Mall.

"I think once they get the idea we're not going to play games, they'll be convinced Federal Way isn't the place to do these kind of activities," said Sgt. Michael Meeks of the Federal Way precinct.

Criminal trespassing is a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Merchants and property managers in the Hillside Plaza and the Gateway Center and SeaTac Village shopping centers have given police written permission to enforce trespassing restrictions in their parking lots.

Police also want to make sure merchants are willing to prosecute violators.

Thomas Beeks, property manager of SeaTac Village, wrote police in June urging them to cite cruisers for trespassing.

One former SeaTac Village merchant blamed cruisers for driving away customers.

Police posted warnings against trespassing two weeks before last weekend's crackdown. Thirty minutes before they began making arrests Friday and Saturday, they warned cruisers and people parked in the lot to leave, said Meeks. The arrests began at 10 p.m. each night.

Of the 91 people cited, 61 were from out of town, and 60 were 18 and older. The crowds on the two nights were estimated by police to be in the hundreds.

Police last week met with about a dozen area merchants and urged them to give police authority to enforce trespass laws after stores closed. Police say letting large groups gather without supervision leads to drug-dealing and rowdy behavior.

On Friday and Saturday nights, large crowds of young people drive into the parking lot of Toys R Us, in the Hillside Plaza north of SeaTac Village, to party, play loud music and drink, said Donna Bottman, assistant store manager. She welcomed the new measures.

"The cops run them out, and they come back 20 minutes later," she said.

Marlene Beadle, owner of a deli and grocery store in the nearby Gateway Center, said merchants want police to make sure Gateway doesn't become an attraction.

She said already cars have been broken into and vandalized as groups of young people have congregated in the parking lot.

"We just don't want it to be a big problem," she said.

One Kent girl, 17, called the police crackdown dumb.

She came to Federal Way last Friday night to meet boys. She left town facing criminal-trespassing charges and a day in Juvenile Court. Those 18 and older would face trial in Federal Way District Court.

"There's always been cruising spots. It's somewhere to go, somewhere to meet people," the girl said. "After everyone gets busted down there, they'll just find a different place the cops don't know about."

Cruising has been a continuing issue in Federal Way and other South King County communities.

More than 150 people have been cited since Federal Way's anti-cruising law took effect in February of 1990, according to police.