(Note: the couple in this story agreed to be interviewed on the condition their names not be used. The Kent Reporter doesn’t usually grant anonymity, but found this to be an exceptional case.)
A Kent couple in their 60s relaxed in their living room watching the television show “Law & Order” at about 10:15 p.m. on a hot summer night when suddenly a masked man burst through their unlocked, front-screen door and pointed a revolver at them.
For the next 45 minutes or so on that July 18 night, life in the East Hill home where the couple has lived for 36 years took an abrupt turn into terror. The man had the wife tape up her husband and told both of them to stay on the floor as he went through the house taking a camera, jewelry and other items.
The masked intruder held a gun to the woman’s head and forced her to drive to a cash machine, where he attempted to use her husband’s debit card. The man later drove the woman to a park near their home, forced her into the trunk of the car and fled. The man left the car keys with the woman, who let herself out of the trunk and went to a nearby house to call 911.
“It was very frightening and very scary,” said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous, as she talked to a reporter Tuesday at the home where the incident occurred along a quiet, residential street. “We did as we were told. We did not want to upset him.”
Kent Police arrested an 18-year-old man Aug. 5 at his Kent home, about one mile from the couple’s home, for investigation of first-degee burglary and first-degree kidnapping. Detectives were able to track the address of the man through the couple’s stolen camera with a serial number that he reportedly had sold at a Renton pawn shop, according to charging papers.
King County prosecutors charged Abdulnasir Abukar Abdiraham on Aug. 7 with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary.
Abdiraham pleaded not guilty to the charges of burglary and kidnapping at his arraignment Aug. 20 in King County Superior Court. If found guilty, he faces a sentencing range of 16 to 18 years, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Abdiraham remains in the county jail at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. Bail is set at $750,000. He is scheduled to return to court Wednesday for a hearing when a trial date could be set or either side could ask the judge for more time to prepare before setting a trial date.
Abdiraham has prior convictions for possession of stolen property in 2007 and violation of the uniformed controlled substance act in 2008.
Abdiraham told detectives he had watched the couple the night before and decided to return the next night to rob them because he needed money and figured the door would be unlocked.
“The fact he is in jail and we know he will not walk by our house is a big relief,” the Kent woman said. “It’s the kind of thing that doesn’t happen to people like us.”
In fact, it’s the type of incident that seldom happens to any Kent resident.
“A home invasion like that is extremely rare,” said Kent Police Chief Steve Strachan. “In this case, it’s even more rare because the man had no connection to the residents.”
Strachan said the few home invasions that do occur often involve someone who has some type of connection to the residents of the home, whether it’s through another family member or some other hook.
“When the report was taken, this case was much discussed within our department because it’s so rare and so disturbing,” Strachan said.
The couple left only a few days after the incident for a scheduled two-week vacation.
“That helped,” the woman said about time away from home. “We were really nervous when anybody walked by the house.”
Although shaken up, the couple escaped injury.
“It would have been a lot more difficult to deal with if we had been injured,” the woman said. “We can even laugh about it now. He was so inept.”
The first time the man forced the wife to drive to the cash machine, he forgot the password the husband had told him. They went back to the house to get the password again. But on the return trip, the man lost the debit card.
The couple has gotten back most of the items that were taken. The woman said the items were worth less than $400.
Since the incident, the couple locks up the house on hot nights.
“We no longer leave the doors open when it’s hot and we close the curtains when it’s dark,” the woman said.
Strachan understands the logic to lock doors.
“You tend to default to advising people to lock their doors,” Strachan said. “But people should be able to watch television with their screen doors open.”
The police chief hopes the arrest of the man helps restore confidence for residents, including the East Hill couple, to feel safe at home.
“We’re pleased we could have a resolution to the case to help return peace and quiet to their home,” Strachan said.
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