Bellevue PD to review policies after escape of dangerous felon

The Bellevue Police Department will review its policies surrounding prisoner transport following the escape of a dangerous felon who has been on the lam for more than two weeks.

Wendell Downs III, 20, of Renton, escaped custody while being transported from the King County Jail to the district courthouse in Bellevue on January 31. Police suspect Downs was assisted by his girlfriend, 20-year-old Tanjanique Q. Hillis, 20, also of Renton.

Both Downs and Hillis have been charged with escape in the second-degree in the case and are being sought by the U.S. Marshals Service on felony warrants.

Meanwhile, Bellevue PD is investigating what happened in the hours leading up to the escape and whether their own polices made it easier for Downs to flee.

Best laid plans

Around 10:00 a.m. on the day of the escape, Downs called Hillis from a phone inside the King County Jail in downtown Seattle, according to court documents.

Around the same time, Hillis and a light blue Ford Crown Victoria registered under her name were spotted outside the courthouse in Bellevue where Downs was scheduled for an afternoon appearance on a misdemeanor driving with a suspended license case.

“Remember what you did last time? Go in there and see,” Downs told Hillis in the recorded phone conversation. “If you woulda followed my instructions last time I wouldn’t be going through none of this.”

Downs had been transported to the courthouse for a hearing in the same case two weeks earlier.

“Ok, I’m in here. Be quiet,” Hillis told Downs.

“I swear to God, I already got this funny ass feeling once again,” Downs responded. He accused Hillis of not following instructions.

After going through security, Hillis approached a clerk at the front desk.

“I’m trying to see if someone is getting transported. They’re supposed to have pretrials,” said Hillis.

Downs directed her to ask more specific questions.
“You making me mad (expletive),” Downs told her. “I sock you in your face.”

Hillis verified more information on his hearing and then left.

A short time later, a sole Bellevue police support officer arrived at the King County Jail to transport Downs and another inmate to court. Police support officers (PSO’s) are non-commissioned law enforcement officials who help agencies with a variety of duties, including prisoner transports. They do not carry a firearm.

The PSO shackled both inmates by the hands and feet and loaded them into a white transport van.

According to Bellevue Police Officer Carla Iafrate, a department spokesperson, the PSO who picked Downs up only knew about the misdemeanor charge for which she was transporting him to court.

In other words, the officer tasked with transporting Downs the day he escaped had no idea who she was dealing with.

‘Boom Boom’

Known on the streets as “Boom Boom,” Downs has a reputation of being aggressive and violent.

The owner of a South Seattle marijuana dispensary said Downs was a patient there, but was banned from the business for threatening behavior.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of gang bangers, but he’s different,” the owner told KIRO Radio. “I could see it in his eyes. He’s a scary guy.”

Since 2009, Downs has had no less than 31 warrants issued for his arrest. His criminal convictions include retail theft, third-degree theft, second-degree theft, first-degree theft, obstruction, failure to comply, residential burglary, and unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree.

At the time of his escape, Downs was awaiting trial on five felony charges: first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, first-degree theft, second-degree theft and organized retail theft.

He had been held at the King County Jail on $350,000 bail since Nov. 12, 2013.

“Those are extremely serious charges. Robbery in the First Degree is a violent offense,” said Ian Goodhew, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

The first-degree robbery charge stemmed from an incident on Aug. 16, 2013.

Around 7:30 p.m. that evening, a man was driving home from his job at a marijuana dispensary when he was rear-ended by a black SUV at the intersection of South Spokane Street and 15th Avenue South. The passenger of the SUV, a black male, attempted to steal the victim’s car when he got out to inspect the damage.

According to court documents, a struggle ensued and the suspect sped off in the stolen car, dragging the victim alongside him.

“The suspect repeatedly punched the victim in the face,” according to court records. “At some point, the driver’s window shattered when the victim’s head hit it.”

The car stalled after hitting a barrier, but the assault continued.

“The suspect punched the victim several more times before leaving the vehicle through the front passenger seat. The suspect went to the rear passenger side of the victim vehicle, opened the door and removed a container from the rear seat.

According to the victim, the container held toughly $800 worth of marijuana-related product.

Detectives with the Seattle Police Department were able to identify the suspect as Wendell Downs through DNA evidence and a fingerprint left at the scene, according to documents.

“He faces a substantial amount of prison time if convicted,” Goodhew said. “We obviously want him back in custody as soon as possible.”

So why would Downs, who faced up to life in prison if convicted on the first-degree robbery charge alone, be transported to Bellevue for a misdemeanor suspended license case?

Bellevue City Prosecutor Lori Riordan said her office will occasionally drop misdemeanor charges against a suspect facing felony charges, but that such decisions are made on a “case-by-case basis” and depend on how far along the defendant is in criminal proceedings and how likely it is that the suspect will be convicted of the felony at trial.

The misdemeanor case against Downs stemmed from a July 19, 2012 traffic stop in the City of Bellevue. According to records, Downs had previously failed to appear in court on the charge, which is why he was being transported to district court in Bellevue the day he escaped.

The escape

At roughly 11 a.m. on January 31, the white transport van carrying Downs and another inmate pulled up in front of the district courthouse in Bellevue.

As soon as the lone police support officer opened up the van door to unload her prisoners, Downs made a run for it.

Dressed in a red jailhouse jumpsuit and shackled at the hands and feet, Downs jumped into a waiting vehicle: his girlfriend’s light blue Ford Crown Victoria, according to police.

“What we want to get out to the public is that if you see either Hillis or Downs, to call police,” Officer Iafrate told reporters at the scene. “I would consider (Downs) dangerous.”

Within hours, felony warrants were issued for the arrest of both Downs and Hillis, and officers were advised to be on the lookout for the Crown Vic.

As soon as their mug shots hit the evening news, Hillis made a call to a Seattle police detective and promised to turn herself in, according to court records.

She never did.

Liability concerns

Bellevue police support officers are given discretion when it comes to how prisoners are restrained during transport.

According to the department’s written policies, it is up to individual support officers to make their supervisors aware of any “issues or factors they believe could compromise their own or a prisoner’s safety or provide the opportunity for escape during transport.”

While it is not uncommon for such officers to transport more than one inmate at a time, many jurisdictions choose to minimize the risk of escape by chaining inmates together, thus making it more difficult for an individual inmate to flee.

Downs was not chained to the inmate he was transported with the day he escaped.

When asked why the police support officer had chosen not to chain the inmates together, Bellevue Police Officer Seth Tyler told KIRO Radio that the department had gone away from that practice due to liability concerns.

Officer Tyler, the department’s back-up public information officer, said chaining inmates together made it more likely that the inmates would fall down, hurt themselves, and file a lawsuit against the city. He opined that taxpayers would prefer that an inmate escape for a short period of time if it meant avoiding a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

In a later, recorded interview, Officer Tyler backed off of those statements, citing an ongoing investigation. He instead spoke generally about liability concerns.

“I can tell you that liability is taken into consideration in any policy that we have at the police department,” Officer Tyler said. “Anytime we do anything out in the field, there’s an inherent liability there. Our goal is to minimize the liability to the public and reduce our exposure to liability as a department.”

He pointed out that inmate escapes are rare. The Downs case is only the second time an inmate has escaped in the 27-year history of the district courthouse in Bellevue.

Officer Tyler said the age of the courthouse, which is an old elementary school, may have contributed to the most recent escape because it does not have a secure sally port. At other facilities, transport vans are driven into a secure garage before being unloaded. At the Bellevue courthouse, inmates are loaded in and out of transport vans on a sidewalk near the front door.

“The good news is that we will be moving into a new facility next year,” Officer Tyler said. “Certainly, security is going to be a top priority for that new facility.”

In the meantime, he said the police department has made immediate changes to prisoner transport procedures, including a mandate that a minimum of two police support officers be present when prisoners are loaded and unloaded for court.

In an email, a department spokesperson said their policies on prisoner transport and restraining devices are currently under review. The review will also determine whether any department policies or procedures were violated prior to the escape.

“Anytime we have an incident like this, we always look for ways we can do our job better,” Officer Tyler said.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Wendell Downs (aka “Windell,” aka “Boom Boom”) or his girlfriend, Tanjanique Q. Hillis, you are asked to call 911.