The Spotlight

The Washington State Legislature has approved a ballot initiative giving police officers more leeway to pursue suspects if there is a reasonable suspicion that a person has violated the law. David Rose has the latest on The Spotlight.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s detectives are asking for your help for information that could crack an unsolved homicide one year ago today after two gunmen opened fire at a Bremerton home, killing a mother of four inside.

It's one thing for a kid to break the law. But when the kids themselves are broken?by addiction, abuse, or mental illness, a jail cell is no place to heal. That's the reasoning behind King County's continued push forward on a plan first promised by Executive Dow Constantine to close the youth detention facility, now by 2028. Teens would be placed in lightly secured group homes instead, where there would be better access to counseling and services. But would that address the jaw-dropping increase we've seen in juvenile crimes this last year? One of the top jurists in the King County courts system is skeptical.

A Pierce County Sheriff's K9 has only been on duty for a couple of months but but he is already proving his skill at tracking. One of three home burglary suspects found that out the hard way when he tried to hide from K9 Bronco by burying himself in the mud.

A police task force resorted to serving a search warrant on DCYF's Green Hill correctional school in Lewis County, after commanders say their official requests for an investigation were brushed off. The raid uncovered more than 100 contraband items, including fentanyl, meth, and shanks, that had gone unreported for years.

The reason that Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy and School Resource Officer Carly Cappetto found herself conducting a felony traffic stop involving a stolen car full of suspects is because she's curious and diligent.

The Spotlight is on a pair of newly obtained bodycam videos that capture corruption and heroics in real-time. First, footage of a massive drug bust inside a state-run prison school. Narcotics agents staged the raid only after getting the brush-off by DCYF and Gov. Inslee?s office. Then, a Pierce County Sheriff?s Deputy in the middle of a dangerous traffic stop has to decide whether an armed stranger arriving on the scene is friend or foe ? and it?s all caught on camera.

The Tacoma Police officers exonerated by a jury in the death of Manny Ellis are voluntarily resigning from the department. All three officers will receive a $500,000 payout. "Labeling these officers as criminals and calling for their firing and prosecution was a reckless, political witch hunt," said Tacoma Police Union IUPA Local 6 in a statement. The Spotlight has details on the settlement and reaction from the Tacoma Action Collective who supported the Ellis family.

The heartbroken family of a rideshare driver murdered in Edmonds still has so many questions about why he was killed. Police say 21-year-old Alex Waggoner fired 11 shots at Abdikadir Shariff. The 31-year-old who had just dropped off two passengers died from a gunshot wound to the head. When officers arrested Waggoner, he was armed with two loaded pistols including the one used to kill Shariff and was wearing body armor. Detectives say Waggoner told them he over-reacted when Shariff almost hit him with his car. As Shariff started apologizing, he opened fire. Plus, the Spotlight has new information in the case of a 7-year-old girl who was kidnapped in Seattle nine years ago that may help return her to her family.

2024 is off to a fast start with hopes of a less deadly year after a record- breaking murder boom of 73 homicides in Seattle. Several newly sworn-in city council members vow to focus on public safety. The Spotlight looks at crime-fighting in the year ahead and shares several unsolved cases carried over from 2023.

This month marked two years since 5-year-old Oakley Carlson was reported missing in Grays Harbor County. Her biological parents continue to refuse to cooperate with detectives trying to find her. Her mom, Jordan Bowers, is in prison after being convicted of identity theft. Her dad, Andrew Carlson, is living in Wenatchee. Meanwhile, detectives are following up on every lead and continue to ask for the public's help to answer the question, where is Oakley Carlson?

The trial for the three suspects, including two members of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, accused in a quadruple murder of the Careaga family in Kitsap County is now underway. The Spotlight takes you back to the day the accused killers were finally arrested with an exclusive in-depth look at the case that started in 2017 with a heartbreaking call to 911 and a horrific discovery.

In a video that sent shockwaves through Joint Base Lewis McChord, a civilian police officer is seen trying to get a DNA swab from a female solider. When she refuses, things spiral quickly. Whistleblowers tell The Spotlight that the incident was quickly swept under the rug. The officer didn't face punishment and is now in training to work for the Department of Homeland Security.

Tacoma Police are preparing to target crime on one of the city's most infamous streets. Officers have already begun working on the 'Mid-Term Strategy' focusing on the area between 8810 and 8820 S. Hosmer St. It's the next step in Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore's Violent Crime Reduction Plan that the department says led to a 17.5% decrease in violent street crime incidents in the first year. A stretch of Hosmer has long been home to shootings, drugs and murder. One particular hotel stood out as a haven for violence. Now, The Spotlight shows how that former crime den has found new life as place for families to call home.

The unsolved murder of a father of two in the vibrant small town of Ravensdale in King County has rocked the community. Now, Nick Valison's widow is sharing his heroic story wtih The Spotlight in hopes it will help detectives catch the killers. Tanie Valison says her husband waved off another neighbor when he went to check on a large U-Haul box truck parked suspiciously on a path in the woods. He was violently attacked and killed. Plus, more victims shot in road rage shootings reaching unprecedented levels in Western Washington.

The number of reported robberies in Seattle is tracking lower so far in 2023 with 1,194 reported so far. That compares to 1,758 robberies in all of 2022. That's little comfort though to the families of students being robbed repeatedly in North Seattle. The Spotlight reports some parents are taking matters into their own hands. Meanwhile, Seattle Police work to see if the same suspects are also committing takeover style armed robberies at convenience stores and in other parts of the city.