BOTHELL — A teen who struck a security guard with his mom’s car outside a government office last year was sentenced Thursday to five days in juvenile detention.
A judge last month found the boy, now 16, guilty of third-degree assault, a felony. The teen faced up to a month in Denney Juvenile Justice Center. He was given credit for the five days he already had spent in juvenile lockup.
The judge declined to impose any probation, saying that the boy has been crime-free for about 18 months while the case against him was pending.
Two security guards shot at the teen during the Feb. 8, 2013 confrontation, which happened outside the Food and Drug Administration building in Bothell. A bullet struck the boy in the foot.
The Herald is not naming the teen because he was charged as a juvenile.
At the time of the incident, the boy was a freshman at the Northshore School District’s Secondary Academy for Success, an alternative school.
The early morning shooting began after a security guard saw a Chrysler 300 idling in a restricted parking lot outside the Pacific Regional Laboratory Northwest office, near the boy’s school. The FDA site is used to test food products for pesticides and other substances.
The guard asked to see the boy’s identification. The teen stepped out of the car and then ran off. He ran back to the car a short time later. The guards drew their guns and ordered the boy out of the Chrysler. That’s when the teen gunned the car, striking one of the guards. The impact ripped off the driver’s side mirror.
The guard fired at the car, hitting it several times. The second guard also fired at the Chrysler. The teen hit a parked car and then sped forward toward the first officer, who fired again. The boy hit a car on Highway 527 as he tried to get away. Police later found him at a house in Bothell.
The guards work for Paragon Systems, which provides armed security for federal buildings under a contract with U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to court records. Snohomish County Prosecutor Mark Roe earlier this year announced that the guards were legally justified in firing their weapons.
He concluded that the boy’s actions caused the security officers to reasonably fear for their lives.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
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