Suspect pleads innocent; FBI investigates robbery; Drug arrest at MIHS; New assistant city attorney hired; Island resident on state news council; Correction
Suspect pleads innocent
Reinhard Georg Wysgoll, 22, pleaded innocent on Feb. 15 to charges of second degree car theft and third degree escape. Wysgoll was released the same day from the King County Jail in Seattle the same day, after posting $10,000 bail.
Prosecutors say that he and a partner fled from police Feb. 1, stole a patrol car, rammed another patrol car and then tried to escape police again. Wysgoll was shot twice after failing to comply with police orders.
The second suspect, who eluded police initially but was captured two days later, is being held without bail at the jail in Seattle on a previous offense and has not yet been charged in the new incident.
Wysgoll appeared at his arraignment in red jail coveralls, with a brace on each arm and his hair in two braids. Wysgoll’s lawyer asked the judge to release him into electronic home detention because of his medical condition.
“In his present condition, he’s not a threat to anyone,” the lawyer said.
A prosecutor disagreed, saying that Wysgoll is still considered a flight risk.
The judge denied the request but lowered his bail from $100,000 to $10,000.
FBI investigates robbery
The FBI’s Violent Crimes Taskforce is investigating last week’s robbery of Banner Bank.
A man walked into the bank at 2918 78th Ave. S.E. at about 3:30 p.m. Feb. 14 and handed a teller a note that stated he was robbing them, according to a police report.
The woman tried to activate the alarm, but the suspect told her not to touch anything. He told the teller to give him the money, and the woman unlocked her drawer and began giving him bills. He stated, “No dye packs,” and kept repeating “You have 20 seconds,” witnesses said.
The suspect asked for his note back and told the woman that if she called police, the building would blow up. He left with about $550, according to the police report.
He is described as a Hispanic male in his 30s or 40s, about 5-feet-1-inch to 5-feet-3-inches tall. He was last seen wearing a baseball cap, red sweatshirt and blue jeans.
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Mercer Island police at 236-3500.
Drug arrest at MIHS
A 16-year -old Mercer Island High School student was arrested Thursday, Feb. 10, at the high school on suspicion of selling drugs. The student was not arrested in his classroom but was called to a conference room in the high school administration offices by the Mercer Island School resource officer, Art Munoz. The student was arrested there by officers of the Eastside Narcotics Taskforce, which conducted the investigation.
The sale of the drugs, reportedly marijuana, did not take place on school grounds. Because of that and insufficient documentation, Superintendent Cyndy Simms was only able to expel the junior for two days. It was her intent to impose a longer expulsion.
“We want everyone to know that we take these offenses seriously,” Simms said.
Last June, four students were arrested for the drug offenses in an investigation that involved the Eastside Narcotics Taskforce. That investigation involved informants and at least two sales of drugs occurred within the drug free zone of 1,000 feet that surrounds public schools in Washington state.
New assistant city attorney hired
At a recent City Council meeting, City Attorney Londi Lindell introduced the new assistant city attorney, Katie Knight.
Knight has 17 years of legal experience in private practice and has represented other public agencies on a contract basis, Lindell said.
The former assistant city attorney, Wayne Stewart, was hired as Mercer Island’s first Municipal Court judge. The Municipal Court opened last month.
Schools Foundation breakfast March 22
Mercer Island Schools Foundation Community Business Breakfast is Tuesday, March 22.
The Mercer Island Schools Foundation is hosting its second annual community business fund-raising breakfast, “Because Good Schools are Good Business” on Tuesday, March 22, at Mercer Island High School. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and the program starts at 7:45 a.m.
The master of ceremonies is Islander and radio host, Dave Ross, and the keynote speaker is Bob Watt, vice president of government and community relations for The Boeing Co.
The breakfast program will include a short video presentation on how support from the MISF helps the Mercer Island School district educate students to become the leaders of tomorrow. Sponsors of this year’s breakfast are expected to include 500 of the Island and the region’s most influential leaders and community members.
Sponsorships and guest reservations can be made by contacting the Mercer Island Schools Foundation at 275-2550.
Island resident on state news council
Island resident Fawn Spady was recently selected as a new voting board member of the Washington News Council.
“We are very pleased to be adding so many excellent new members to the news council,” WNC President Cyrus Krohn said.
Volunteer board members oversee the organization’s operations and finances, consider complaints against the news media and vote on the validity of complaints in formal hearings.
Spady and her husband, Jim, own Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants. Last fall, she ran for the state House of Representatives. The couple also has spent years campaigning for the approval of charter schools.
Correction
In a photo called “Stack the Zachs” published in the Feb. 16 issue of the Reporter, St. Monica student Zach Cuaresma was misidentified as Zach McPherson.
The Reporter regrets the error.
