On January 28, 2010 a group of 10 teenagers began to argue with 15-year-old Aiesha Baker inside the downtown Nordstrom at 500 Pine Street in Westlake Plaza. They even threatened to kill her.
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| Nordstrom on Right, Mall on Left |
They were asked to leave by security officers and they all left through the west entrance onto 5th Avenue. Aiesha went across the street to Westlake Mall and took the elevator down to the bus tunnel. The group followed her. Aiesha sensed trouble so she made a point to stand next to three security guards, thinking they would protect her. Well, they didn't. A 15-year-old girl pushed Aiesha to the ground and began kicking her in the head and body.
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Aiesha getting kicked in the tunnel
She was then picked up and thrown into the bus lanes. The security officers called the police and watched the girl get pummeled. Aiesha's purse, ipod, and back pack were all stolen. According to a news release from the King County Executive Office, the transit tunnel security officers who witnessed the assault didn't help the girl because they're unarmed employees of Olympic Security Services who are trained to avoid confrontations or fights and instead call 911. (Seems to me like they're a waste of money then. Anybody down there with a cell phone can call 911) The main attacker was arrested February 5th and was charged with second-degree assault and first-degree robbery. Three more suspects were arrested on February 6th-Latroy D. Hayman 20, Domanique L. Whitaker 18, and Tyrone J. Watson, also 18. They were all charged with first-degree robbery. The city was of course in an uproar over a poor, innocent girl being attacked while grown men just stood by. Aiesha even gained national attention when she went crying to Good Morning America with her story.
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Well.....there's more to the story than she told. A lot more. Some say it was karma intervening. On May 23, 2009 Tamie Cox, 50 was walking home from a pub on Highway 99 up in Edmonds when two "nicely dressed and polite girls" stopped and asked her for the time. When Tamie pulled out her cellphone to check, the girls jumped her. One put her in a head lock and yanked at her hair while the second girl punched her in the face and chest and grabbed her purse. After the attackers ran away, Tamie chased after them. Once they ran into a dark alley, she decided not to press her luck. She ran back out to the highway and flagged down a police officer. Somebody else had already called the cops and the two suspects were in the back of another squad car. You guessed it, one of those girls was Aiesha Baker. On top of that, Aiesha was already on probation for attempted second-degree robbery and assault for attacking a security guard at Saar's Market Place in Rainier Beach (Seattle's answer to South central) on Jan. 26, 2009. Aiesha punched the guard in the head after he stopped her friend for shoplifting an energy drink and a bag of chips.
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| Saar's Market in Rainier Beach |
In exchange for her guilty plea in the Edmonds attack, Aiesha was ordered to serve four months of probation and a year of community service, attend counseling, have a nightly curfew and refrain from using drugs and alcohol or possessing weapons. (So really, she wasn't punished at all) Aiesha's adult attackers in the tunnel; Hayman, Watson, and Whitaker, were all sentenced to six months in jail. The 15-year-old girl was sentenced to 36 weeks in Juvenile Detention. I'd love to tell you this is the end of the story but on December 23, 2010 Aiesha was attacked again. According to court documents, around 9:30pm Aiesha and a friend were waiting at a bus stop near the Westlake Plaza Macy's at 3rd and Pine when they were approached by Alleicia Carson, 20 and two teen girls. One of those girls, then 16, was Aiesha's primary attacker in the bus tunnel. The other juvenile girl was identified as the sister of one of the men convicted of the tunnel beating.
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| Bus Stop with Macy's on Left |
According to witnesses, Alleicia saw Aiesha and asked the 16-year-old, "Isn't that the bitch you beat up in the tunnel?" The three surrounded Aiesha and her friend, spit on them, pulled their hair and called them "snitches." The group was still fighting when officers arrived. Alleicia, who had previously been charged with attempted theft in 2006, plead guilty and was given only a suspended sentence and probation. My advice to Aiesha, on top of the obvious, is to stay away from the plaza. She lives closer to SouthCenter Mall anyway.
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| The Bus Tunnel Today |
