Man with lengthy record faces charges in 6 crimes in Kent, Renton

A 37-year-old Ravensdale man faces first-degree burglary, drive-by shooting and four other charges for incidents last month in Kent and Renton.

King County prosecutors charged Joseph Ryan England on Sept. 2 with first-degree burglary, drive-by shooting, unlawful possession of a firearm, theft of a firearm, second-degree burglary and taking a motor vehicle without permission, according to charging papers. The incidents occurred between Aug. 11 and Aug. 15.

England is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 14 in the GA Courtroom of the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. He remained in custody at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle with bail set at $900,000, according to jail records.

Prosecutors requested a high bail based on England’s past record of committing offenses while on pretrial release, according to court documents. England has five misdemeanor arrest warrants and warrant activity on 16 superior court cases since 1998. This includes four warrants currently active from King County Superior Court and Kent Municipal Court.

England’s five open cases, mostly in Kent, include possession of a stolen vehicle; residential burglary; attempted trafficking of stolen property; and possession of a stolen vehicle.

“The defendant has a history of being released over prosecutors’ objection,” said Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, in an email.

In charging papers, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Roxanne Reese wrote that England “has primarily enjoyed out-of-custody status despite numerous failures to comply with conditions of release.”

England reportedly committed numerous crimes during 2021, including after a judge reduced his bail to $10,000 from $25,000 and put him on electronic home detention.

On the latest five crimes, Reese described England’s alleged actions.

“Mr. England has demonstrated time and time again, that he will not abide by conditions of release or less restrictive alternatives to confinement and will continue to re-offend and victimize members of our community,” Reese wrote in court documents.

England reportedly attempted to avoid identification by committing the crime in a stolen vehicle disguised with licence plates he stole in a separate burglary, according to charging papers. England then allegedly broke into a victim’s home and stole their firearm, which was in addition to the one with which he came there already armed.

That victim tried to follow England in a vehicle and England reportedly responded by shooting at her.

His prior convictions include 12 residential burglaries between 2008 and 2014; seven thefts of a motor vehicle between 2008 and 2009; and several other crimes including assault, reckless driving and malicious mischief.

In the five most recent charges, England reportedly broke into a Kent home Aug. 15 in the 26200 block of 144th Avenue SE and stole a pistol and a diamond ring. A woman who lives at the home was away but received an alert on her phone from her security cameras. When she went home to check on the alert, she saw an unknown male and an unknown vehicle at the home.

The woman chased England’s vehicle, a silver pickup truck, but halted her pursuit after England reportedly fired shots out of his driver’s side window at her.

Officers discovered the license plate seen in camera surveillance on the silver pickup had been stolen Aug. 12 from the Issaquah School District in Renton during a commercial burglary.

A Kent detective found out the silver pickup had been reported stolen Aug. 11 from the Maplewood Golf Course in Renton.

The Kent detective was going to put together a warrant service team to find England, but then Tukwila Police arrested him on $150,000 worth of warrants King County prosecutors already had out for him, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.