Bus hits woman on Highway 99

LYNNWOOD — A 62-year-old woman was taken to Harborview Medical Center with multiple injuries after she was hit by a Community Transit bus on Highway 99 yesterday afternoon.

Investigators said the woman was walking outside of a crosswalk, across five lanes of traffic, when the bus struck her in the right northbound lane at 4:11 p.m.

The bus driver and passengers were uninjured.

Lynnwood police and Community Transit officials are investigating the accident.

Man charged in molestations alleged at children's home

SEATTLE — Prosecutors say a 37-year-old man molested several children over a period of years when he worked at the Children's Home Society in North Seattle before one of the children, now a grown man, reported the alleged abuse.

Kenneth Mark Bell of Federal Way was charged with one count of child rape and two counts of second-degree child molestation in King County Superior Court on Monday.

According to charging papers, the investigation against Bell began when a former resident of the Children's Home Society told police last year that he had been raped and molested by Bell when Bell worked there.

Court documents show Bell was fired after he was investigated by the state's Child Protective Services for two incidents of child sexual abuse in 1997 and 1998.

Charging papers did not show when he worked there or when he was fired.
 
1 southbound lane on I-5 closed because of slides
 
BELLINGHAM — The left southbound lane of Interstate 5 just south of here will remain closed today after two rock slides 50 feet apart dumped debris onto the freeway yesterday morning.

The slide moved a concrete barrier and covered both northbound and southbound lanes with 200 cubic yards of rock and mud, according to transportation officials.

With only one southbound lane open, traffic was backed up three miles during last evening's commute. Maintenance crews yesterday cut down unstable trees near the freeway and stabilized the hillside above it.

It's unknown when the left southbound lane will reopen.

Bremerton gun dealer guilty of not paying state sales tax

PORT ORCHARD — A Bremerton gun dealer who admitted selling firearms without doing background checks pleaded guilty Tuesday in Kitsap County Superior Court to failing to pay state sales tax.

Eric R. Barnes, 44, was a federally licensed firearms dealer who sold hundreds of weapons at gun shows and out of his home. Last fall, undercover agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives bought several firearms from him at a gun show in Burlington, Skagit County, and Barnes did not do a background check.

He told authorities he didn't realize he had to follow federal firearms rules when he sold secondhand guns, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Redkey said. Investigators found he didn't pay tax on $344,000 in guns sales.

He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court two weeks ago to willfully failing to keep records and will be sentenced May 21 to a maximum of five years. He will be sentenced on the state charges, which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years, on June 7.

Monroe prisoner charged in escape last October

EVERETT — A man who escaped from the Monroe Correctional Complex last year was charged yesterday with first-degree escape.

Jeffrey Rean, 20, climbed over a 15-foot fence to escape from the minimum-security unit at the prison Oct. 31. Rean had been convicted of assaults in King and Lewis counties and had a projected release date in 2006.

Rean was found Nov. 9 hiding in the attic of a Bellingham apartment, according to charging papers.

Norwegian man is killed working on truck in Silverdale

SILVERDALE, Kitsap County — A Norwegian immigrant was killed when a dilapidated truck fell on him as he was working, authorities said.

Kitsap County sheriff's deputies were investigating the death of Sverre Johan Wiklund, 38, of Poulsbo, on a lot near a house shortly after nightfall Monday.

Wiklund, who had been living with an uncle in Poulsbo, leaves two children.

Authorities said he and other workers had been moving and taking tires and oil from broken-down trucks, but none of the others was present when the truck fell, and no one from the house saw it happen.

Wiklund was found pinned beneath one of the vehicles when another worker returned to the area, investigators said.

25 drug cases dismissed as searches deemed illegal

OKANOGAN, Okanogan County — Misdemeanor drug charges against 25 people have been dismissed because the Washington State Patrol unlawfully stopped or detained them on their way to an event in October, Okanogan County deputy prosecutors say.

Troopers sought consent from drivers to search vehicles or brought in a drug dog without having probable cause to suspect a crime, prosecutors told District Judge Dave Edwards.

Charges against 25 people who were en route to the Tonasket Barter Faire were dropped Monday. Charges against another seven people will proceed.

Shelton boy, 14, dies in crash as sister drives him to school

SHELTON — Brandon Kaufman, a 14-year-old Shelton boy, died in a car accident yesterday morning that occurred while his 16-year-old sister drove him to school.

The accident occurred about 7:10 a.m. Washington State Patrol Trooper Glen Tyrrell said the girl made a left turn onto Highway 101 from southbound Highway 3, into the path of a logging truck. The truck driver is a 55-year-old Tacoma man.

Drivers have complained that they can't see oncoming traffic on Highway 101 because of the sun's glare. But it's unknown what caused this accident, Tyrrell said.

Times staff and news services