Charge of impersonating police added for ex-felon

EVERETT — A convicted armed bank robber whose flight from police once shut down Everett’s Boeing plant is facing a handful of criminal charges stemming from allegations that he has been posing as a police officer.

Prosecutors late last week tacked on two more felony charges for Kenneth Moody, who was charged in September with three other felonies.

Police around the county have been investigating Moody for months based on reports that the Everett man was trying to pass himself off as an undercover police officer in an effort to steal from stores. He’s also reportedly attempted to persuade his neighbors not to rat him out to police, explaining that he was “with the Feds and in an investigation.”

Moody now is charged with three counts of first-degree criminal impersonation, attempting to elude police and second-degree identity theft. The 40-year-old also is under investigation for other incidents of impersonating a police officer and may face additional charges, according to court papers.

Moody on Monday pleaded not guilty to the new charges. He was being held on bail in the Snohomish County Jail.

In court papers, prosecutors called him a “career criminal” who has shown to be a danger to the public.

Moody’s first criminal conviction came at the age of 12. He continued to find himself of the wrong side of the law over the years. His most serious conviction came in 2000.

That’s when Moody was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for robbing a Lynnwood-area bank.

Moody’s capture was dramatic.

The day after the armed heist police spotted him driving a stolen car. As he attempted to outrun the cops, he crashed his vehicle on the Boeing Freeway. Moody then jumped down a 20-foot embankment, ran across the six lanes of traffic and scaled a metal fence topped with barbed wire to get into the Boeing plant.

Work came to a halt and buildings were emptied as police spent 10 hours searching for Moody in the 98-acree plant.

A Boeing employee reported seeing the man, armed with a gun. Moody was wearing coveralls and a hard hat when found in an attic crawl space area.

Since his release from federal prison, Moody hasn’t been convicted of any other felonies.

Then in June, he came to the attention of police in Snohomish after an employee at Home Depot reported that Moody and an accomplice were reportedly trying to shoplift. When the employee confronted Moody, he allegedly flashed a badge and said he was “undercover” and warned the man not to “blow his cover,” according to court papers.

The employee requested more identification. Moody and the woman reportedly fled the store.

A similar report was taken a day later at the Home Depot in Marysville.

Detectives caught up with Moody in August. He allegedly led officers on a high-speed pursuit and held police at bay for about an hour before finally surrendering at his home.

Police searched his house and located a badge stolen from an Island County sheriff’s deputy. Moody’s girlfriend is related to the sheriff’s deputy, court papers said. Police also discovered a set of handcuffs, a police uniform, a makeshift duty belt outfitted with pepper spray and police-style radios.

Detectives interviewed neighbors who reported seeing Moody with a badge around his neck and wearing a duty belt. They also told police that after they reported a disturbance at Moody’s house in July, he asked if they had called police. He reportedly told them he was a federal agent and advised them not to call 911 anymore. He said he’d get in trouble and they’d “go down” with him, court papers said.

Moody also is accused of attempting to cash a forged check in November. Prosecutors allege he also impersonated a police officer Dec. 8 at the Everett Walmart in an attempt to steal a cell phone.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.