Lakewood man one of 6 charged in Seattle home-invasion robberies, possible hate crimes
Demarcus Pate didn’t know Seattle police detectives were watching when he stepped out of an apartment in Lakewood to walk his dogs.
According to court records, that act, combined with other evidence detectives had gathered, tied him to the address near Joint Base Lewis-McChord. That led to a search warrant and an arrest on Sept. 27, linking Pate and five other people to a series of 14 brazen home-invasion robberies in and around Seattle this past summer that targeted Asian-American victims.
King County prosecutors filed charges Friday against Pate, 28, and the other suspects allegedly involved in the incidents. The initial charge against Pate is unlawful gun possession. It’s a placeholder and likely prelude to more charges that might include additional suspects. At his arraignment Friday, bail was set at $1.5 million.
The other charged suspects were arrested at addresses in King County and also arraigned Friday:
- Delauno Habtai, 26, charged with three counts of unlawful gun possession.
- Tyrhone Marr, 32, charged with two counts of unlawful gun possession.
- Javez Paul Tubbs, 30, charged with one count of unlawful gun possession.
- A 16-year-old boy, charged with multiple counts of robbery, burglary, attempted robbery, and theft.
- A sixth suspect, Jaqawn Jamison, 23, charged with burglary.
- Prosecutors also named an additional suspect who had not been charged as of Friday.
Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz announced the arrests at a press conference, describing a multi-agency investigation that began in June and included the recovery of 14 guns.
“This was a very important and well planned-out process,” Diaz said. “While we have 14 cases right now, we’re currently also assessing if there were other cases.”
Suspects posed as cops
The string of robberies began in June and continued through August in south Seattle, court records say. They began with shouts at the door: “Seattle Police!” The armed suspects, wearing masks, forced their way into homes and apartments. A Seattle police detective described the similarities in court records:
“These burglaries all occurred in South Seattle, involved weapons and/or forceful takeovers and assaults of the victims, targeted victims of Asian descent, and involved multiple suspects.“
The victims were threatened with weapons, court records say. Some were assaulted. In one incident, the suspects ransacked a home and took $24,000 in cash and merchandise.
The initial charges reflect an active investigation. Whether hate-crime charges will follow is unclear, according to information from Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecutor’s office,
“Speaking generally, charging hate crimes involves proving the specific motivation,” a statement from McNerthney said. “Prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted ‘because of his or her perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or mental, physical, or sensory disability.’“
Was there a boss?
Was Pate the ringleader of the crew? Initial charging papers don’t answer that question. They link him to multiple incidents but not all, citing surveillance video, physical descriptions, a black BMW X3 with no license plates that he was known to drive, and his distinctive size 12 shoes.
They also show that Pate has a prior conviction in Pierce County for first-degree assault in 2013. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. When the Seattle home-invasion robberies occurred, he was under active community supervision by the state Department of Corrections.
That meant he wasn’t legally allowed to carry a gun. Court records show Seattle detectives confirmed that information with Pate’s community corrections officer, who also said Pate was tied to multiple addresses in Tacoma and Lakewood. The search at his Lakewood address recovered two guns and a mobile phone.
Court records indicate that Pate moved between addresses in Tacoma and Lakewood tied to his mother and a girlfriend. At the time of his arrest last week, he denied he was at the scenes of the Seattle robberies and said he was at his mother’s house. Court records say the phone was tracked to the scenes of some of the robberies.
This story was originally published October 2, 2023 at 10:57 AM.
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