Former Issaquah teacher sentenced for child molestation
Richard Buckley, 34, was charged in January with first-degree child molestation of a now-11-year-old North Bend girl at her mother's Issaquah apartment over Christmas. Under a relatively new state law, people convicted of certain sex crimes — including child molestation, child rape and rape — are sentenced to minimum prison terms; once they've served the sentence, Department of Corrections officials decide whether to release them or hold them indefinitely, said King County deputy prosecutor Erin Becker.
If and when Buckley is released, he will be under community supervision for the rest of his life, she said.
Bicycle-patrol officers arrest convicted sex offender
BELLEVUE — Two Bellevue bicycle-patrol officers arrested a convicted sex offender yesterday on suspicion of failing to make weekly reports to his community corrections officer.
Officers Steve Hoover and Mark Tarantino arrested Brian Marsden Drinkard, 20, on a no-bail warrant for violating conditions of his release from prison, said Bellevue police spokesman Michael Chiu. He was booked into King County Jail.
Drinkard, who was last seen by officials on Oct. 1, recently registered with Bellevue authorities as a homeless sex offender, Chiu said. In May 1996, Drinkard, then 13, molested a girl and boy, both 9 years old, on Mercer Island. He pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree child molestation and served almost four months in juvenile detention, court records show.
State Rep. Ruderman to run for secretary of state
KIRKLAND — State Rep. Laura Ruderman announced yesterday that she is running for secretary of state next year.
The Kirkland Democrat will face incumbent Republican Sam Reed, who announced his re-election bid last week. Ruderman wants to increase public participation, which leads to better schools and an accountable government, she said in a statement.
Ruderman, 32, was elected to the House in 1998 and is the vice chair of the Technology, Telecommunications and Energy Committee and member of the Appropriations Committee. She was elected as a Democrat in a Republican-leaning district that includes Woodinville, Duvall, Redmond and Sammamish.
She worked as a Microsoft program manager before running for public office.
Police arrest Kirkland man in alleged armed robbery
KIRKLAND — Police arrested a 20-year-old Kirkland man on suspicion of armed robbery yesterday, taking him into custody blocks from a Wells Fargo Bank that had just been held up.
Around 11:45 a.m., a man walked into the bank at 460 Central Way in Kirkland, walked up to the counter and showed a handgun to a bank employee, said Kirkland police Lt. Gene Markle. The man left the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash, Markle said.
The Kirkland police station is three blocks from the bank, so officers were able to fan out and locate a man matching the robber's description fairly quickly, Markle said. Two detectives spotted the man a few blocks from the bank and arrested him. The man consented to a search of his backpack, which contained money and an automatic pistol, Markle said.
He was turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Violent Crime Taskforce, which is investigating the possibility the man was responsible for a robbery at the same bank earlier this month, Markle said.