Blind rapper, woman arrested after victim robbed of car

EVERETT — A blind rapper who has begun to make a name for himself in the Pacific Northwest was arrested in Marysville on Wednesday night for investigation of assault, robbery and auto theft.

To his fans, he’s known as Mac Wayne.

To police and prosecutors, he is Wayne A. Frisby.

The Everett man made a brief appearance Thursday in Everett District Court. He appeared to be visually impaired as he walked slowly up to a table to sit beside a court-appointed attorney. Bail was set at $150,000.

Police arrested Frisby, 30, and Briauna Tanouye, 25. They believe the Arlington woman tricked an acquaintance into leaving her car in a parking lot before stealing her keys at knifepoint in the 7300 block of 46th Place NE.

Initial police reports said “a blind male named Wayne” took the woman’s car keys.

The victim told police she received a phone call from Tanouye who said she would give her gas money if she would drive her where she needed to go. The two drove separate cars to a meeting place and the victim allegedly got into Tanouye’s car, court papers said.

They then drove to another location. When the car stopped, the passenger door flung open and someone grabbed the victim by the hair and cut a large hank off with a knife, court papers said.

The attacker demanded the victim’s car keys and threatened to stab her if she didn’t hand them over, court papers said.

The victim told police that Tanouye drove off with Frisby as a passenger.

Police drove the victim back to where she parked her car. It was missing.

Officers did find hair on the pavement where the woman said the assault happened. She also was bleeding from her knuckles and wrist. She said she sustained the cuts when the attacker cut her hair.

On promotional websites, Mac Wayne is described as “the undisputed Ray Charles of rap, 100% blind and 100% raw.”

It was unclear to police and prosecutors the extent of the suspect’s visual impairment.

“There is some blindness, but to what level I do not know,” Marysville police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux said.

According to another promotional website, the rapper said “a gunshot to the head took his sight and in the same instant gave him the ability to see whole songs in his mind.”

Frisby is known to local police agencies. He was arrested in January for investigation of illegally possessing a firearm.

In 2007, he was convicted of possessing heroin. In that case, police said he was caught in a car smoking marijuana.

“The defendant was asked for his ID and as he rolled down the window a large amount of smoke that smelled like marijuana came billowing out of the car,” court papers said.

A search of the car turned up a baggy containing heroin.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@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.