On February 16 MLT patrol officers were dispatched to the Creekside Apartments for a welfare check. The victim’s friends said that she had recieved a frantic phone call from the victim who said her boyfriend wouldn’t leave the apartment and wouldn’t let her leave. The victim also told her friend that the boyfriend had knived and that she was scared.

The victim’s friend lost contact with the victim and was not able to get a hold of her again. The friend then called police, telling them that there was a court order against the boyfriend and that he had just been released from jail for previously assaulting the victim.

Unfortunately, the friend did not know what apartment number the victim lived in. The friend, police and the victim’s mother all tried calling the victim but she would not answer the phone.

Officers were able to determine what apartment the victim lives in; however, no one would answer the door for an extended period of time. The boyfriend must have caught wind of what was going on because he called the police and said he was in Lynnwood. The victim finally called and agreed to answer her door and MLT police located the boyfriend inside the apartment and placed him in custody without incident.

The 26 year old suspect was booked into the City of Lynnwood jail for violating the court order. The victim said she was not in distress and not being held against her will. The reason she gave for not answering the door was that she said she sleeps with earplugs in and did not hear officers pounding.

Later in the day, the victim re-contacted officers and recanted what she previously told them. She said that her boyfriend had, in fact, held her against her will and that she had not disclosed the truth initially because of her fear of retaliation from him. The suspect’s charges were then amended appropriately to include unlawful imprisonment.

Domestic violence cases like this are probably more frequent than some may think and it’s important for everyone to be aware of this. “I think this case highlights just how important it is for friends, family and even neighbors to report what they see and hear, ” said Mountlake Terrace Police Domestic Violence Coordinator Danielle Singson.

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(Image: Door Knob, a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike (2.0) image from amerkhalid’s photostream)