News

Suspect charged in Seattle ATM theft; alleged accomplice shot by police

December 29, 2002

SEATTLE -- King County, Wash., prosecutors charged 25-year-old Lenardo Christopher White in the attempted robbery of an ATM user -- an incident that led Seattle police to fatally shoot a fleeing 17-year-old suspect on Dec. 12.

Police are investigating 10 other similar robberies that occurred over the past two months, according to a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

According to court documents, White may have been the lookout for his friend, DeOntrel Davis, who was shot as he ran away from the Fremont ATM. Police were staking out the ATM because someone had been robbed there three days earlier.

Police say victims in the string of robberies reported being ordered to withdraw cash at gunpoint. The man who was robbed on Dec. 12, allegedly by DeOntrel, told investigators he was "scared to death."

DeOntrel was shot in the head by officers who believed he was armed. It was determined later that he was carrying a paintball gun, partially concealed with a stocking hat to make it look like a pistol. He died at Harborview Medical Center on Dec. 13.

 White was arrested as he ran from the scene.