Crime

Two men arrested at Tacoma Mall a year ago after agreeing to sell 12,000 ecstasy pills were sentenced in federal court on Friday.

Nop Van Lam of Tacoma was sentenced to nine years in prison and three years of supervised probation, while Toan Tran of Lynnwood was sentenced to eight years in prison and three years supervised probation.  They were both convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute Ecstasy.

The two were arrested on March 12, 2009 during a drug deal at the mall.  Investigators followed the two from Lam's home in Tacoma to the mall before the arrest.

Tran was found to have a stolen, loaded Baretta 9mm semi-automatic pistol with him, and a search of his Lynnwood apartment turned up two more gun, meth, cocaine and over $6,000 in cash.

Mill Creek was the unlikely location for an undercover prostitution sting operation that resulted in six arrests on Friday.

Five women were arrested on suspicion of soliciting prostitution and one man also was arrested on suspicion of promoting prostitution, police said. One woman also was busted for possession of marijuana.

Mill Creek police spokeswoman Sgt. Kate Hamilton said she is not surprised to find prostitution happening in the quiet, mostly upscale town of gated communities.

"It goes on everywhere. I think it's one of those adult activities that can happen anywhere," she said. "No, I am not surprised. I think it's something that maybe the citizens aren't aware of - but it's just something that's going on, probably, like an underbelly - it happens everywhere."

During the sting, police officers responded to advertisements posted in the "adult service" category on the Craigslist web site, and arranged for a meeting at an apartment in Mill Creek.

Undercover officers posed as "Johns" at the apartment and greeted the unsuspecting women when they arrived.

Police are trying to track down four machete-wielding thieves who robbed a man in broad daylight near Mountlake Terrace High School.

The incident took place at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Police say the thieves hid in the bushes along 44th Ave. W., then attacked the man while he was walking home from a store. One of the attackers was armed with a machete, investigators said.

"I don't know if it's a convenience sake of having a weapon, or if it's an intimidation factor because it is large," said Det. Sgt. Doug Hansen. "Sometimes it's used as an intimidation factor. Anytime a weapon is used, we have grave concern."

The men ordered the victim to empty his pockets. When he failed to comply, they got rough, police said.

"Punched him in the jaw, in the head. He fell, phone came out of his pocket. They grabbed his phone and kept on running. He had to walk some distance to his home before he could call us," said Hansen.

Area residents were shaken by the attack on a high-traffic road that many joggers, walkers and bicyclists frequent.

"We run through here on our lunch time, and it seems pretty safe here.

Two men suspected in a string of takeover-style robberies in King and Snohomish counties were officially charged by prosecutors Tuesday.

In King County Superior Court, 46-year-old Carl Curry Jr. (pictured on the left) pleaded not guilty to attempted robbery. His alleged accomplice, 35-year-old Napoleon Hayes Jr. (on the right), pleaded not guilty to attempted robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm.

The pair is suspected of hitting three casinos including Goldie's in Shoreline, a check cashing business and a Bank of America in Lynnwood on SW 196th St.

In all of the robberies the men ordered everyone inside to the floor, displayed guns and, in two of the robberies, fired shots into the air.

"One guy had a gun in each hand -- a pistol in one hand and a shotgun in the other," Urquhart said. "We don't see that very often. It just shows how desperate and how dangerous these two guys were."