Newswatch

2 victims died from smoke

EDMONDS--The two people killed in an apartment fire here Tuesday morning died from smoke inhalation, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office said yesterday.

The victims were identified as Billy Joe Clenney, 21, who lived in the apartment at Firdale Village Apartments where the fire started, and Jessica Hanks, 20, of Shoreline.

Fire investigators are continuing to seek the cause of the fire, which displaced 50 people and damaged or destroyed two dozen units.

Kevin Taylor, Edmonds' assistant fire chief, said the fire started within 2 to 3 feet of a wood-burning stove in the apartment. The fire was accidental, he said.

Authorities yesterday also said they found drug paraphernalia in the apartment, but Taylor said it had nothing to do with the fire.

Gunfire from one car wounds driver in another

SEATTLE--A 20-year-old man driving a car was shot by the occupant of a second vehicle last night in the Rainier Valley, police said.

The victim was driving near the intersection of South Fletcher Street and 54th Avenue South at about 7 p.m. when he was shot once, said Clem Benton, spokesman for the Seattle Police Department. The victim was taken to Harborview Medical Center where his condition was listed as critical, said a nursing supervisor.

A witness told police the shooter was in the passenger side of a dark-colored 1973 or 1974 Chevrolet Caprice with a broken headlight, Benton said. Police last night were looking for the vehicle.

It was not clear how many people were in the car with the shooter, Benton said.

Officer pleads guilty in sex-extortion case

KENT--A Federal Way police officer accused of offering to fix a woman's shoplifting ticket in exchange for sex has pleaded guilty to second-degree extortion.

The case involved a young woman officer Kenneth Erbar cited for shoplifting after security personnel at a Wal-Mart accused her of taking merchandise she had not paid for.

She asked Erbar for advice and he replied that for him to help, they would first have to form "some kind of friendship." He gave her a business card and told her to call him.

Charging papers say the woman called a police supervisor instead, and that two officers later hid in her house and arrested Erbar when he showed up with condoms in his pocket.

Erbar is to be sentenced Feb. 16 before King County Superior Court Judge Dale Ramerman.

The sentencing range is one to three months in jail.

Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office, said prosecutors will ask that Erbar serve 240 hours of community service, have no contact with the victim and no further involvement in law enforcement.

Man charged in fatal shooting of older brother in Renton

RENTON--An 18-year-old man was charged yesterday with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his older brother on Christmas Day.

Darin Ward Jr. is accused of fatally shooting Anthony Johnson, 21, in the chest in the parking lot of an apartment building in the 2200 block of Benson Road.

Ward, Johnson and three others went to the apartment building about 9 p.m. Monday.

Ward went into an apartment and returned with a gun, according to charging papers.

While he and his brother argued, the three people they were with heard "a pop." They looked over and saw Johnson had been shot.

Detectives who searched Ward's apartment the next day seized a loaded .22-caliber Sturm-Ruger semiautomatic pistol that was consistent with the expended casings found at the shooting scene.

Information is from Seattle Times staff and news service.