Surviving Suspect Awaits Trial

ROMAN FEDOROV and Vitaly Kalchik committed eight holdups within 90 minutes, police say.

Before the sun rose on Dec. 18 last year, police say, Vitaly Kalchik and Roman Fedorov pulled eight holdups in 90 minutes, a string of armed robberies that stretched from West Seattle to Woodinville.

The teenagers were in such a hurry, police say, that they snatched up two cash registers along the way. Their fifth robbery took just 31 seconds.

It was the quickest crime spree in Detective Scott Strathy's 14 years with the King County Sheriff's Office. He says the two stole a car, robbed a homeowner and shot up his garage, held up clerks at two hotels plus five gas stations or convenience stores and rear-ended a car, speeding away as it spun out of control. Although none of the victims was hurt, all were terrified.

Said Strathy, "They held the gun at the head of eight innocent victims."

One year later, there's still no clear explanation of what provoked the rampage.

But there may be some answers next month as Fedorov goes on trial on nine counts of first-degree armed robbery: eight counts on the holdups and one for allegedly stealing the car used in the spree. The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 4.

Fedorov has pleaded not guilty. Though 17 at the time of the robberies, he was charged as an adult because a gun was used in the crimes. Kalchik, 18, was dealt a different fate.

Police say he burst through the door of a 7-Eleven in downtown Woodinville about 7 a.m., aimed a 9-mm gun at the clerk's head and demanded money. Hearing the commotion from a back office, store owner Otto Beach grabbed his gun, confronted Kalchik and fired two shots, hitting him once in the neck.

Kalchik fled, trailing $1 and $5 bills, but Beach followed him outside and shot again. The 18-year-old Kalchik died near a trash bin.

Police say Fedorov took off in a panic, driving in the dim daylight without headlights. He was arrested after crashing the car a short distance from the store. Authorities say they found more than $1,000 and two cash registers inside the stolen car.

King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng later ruled Kalchik's death justifiable, saying Beach shot to protect himself and his employees.

But a year later, Beach still declines to publicly discuss the shooting; his wife and colleagues say he remains distraught. Around town, he is considered a hero.

The shooting was only the second crime-related death in Woodinville's five years since incorporation. While it briefly rattled the community, it inspired little fear - downtown shopkeepers saw it as a random act and express only curiosity about what spurred such a frantic series of robberies.

Authorities say the answer may simply be that the two young men were already hardened criminals.

Friends for eight years, Fedorov lived in South Seattle and Kalchik in Federal Way. Their families had emigrated from Russia.

Kalchik had at least eight juvenile offenses and four adult offenses on his record. He was suspected of being involved in a car-theft ring, according to his former probation officer and Federal Way police.

Even back in ninth grade, as a paperboy, Kalchik stole from a homeowner who had invited him in for lemonade on a hot day, said Rob Legge, his former probation officer.

Fedorov was a high-school dropout, bouncing from one part-time job to another. He had 29 offenses in juvenile court and failed to appear in court about a dozen times.

But his sister, Nadia, said she and her mother, Valentina, were unaware of Fedorov's extensive criminal record. "My heart hurts every day Roman not home," his mother said. "I cry every day."

Her son calls collect daily from the King County Jail to chat with his mother.

Fedorov has told his mother that last Dec. 18 in Woodinville, he had been sleeping in the car when he heard gunshots, saw his friend collapse, got scared and drove off, his sister said.

Defense attorney Nicholas Marchi does not deny that the robber pictured in several stores' security-camera videos is his client, but said there is insufficient evidence to convict on all nine counts.

Tan Vinh's phone message number is 206-515-5656. His e-mail address is: tvinh@seattletimes.com

Eastside Update is an occasional series checking back on people and issues in the news.