Echo Glen Escape: 4 Teens Face New Charges

KING COUNTY, WA — Four of the five teens who escaped the Echo Glen Children's Center in Snoqualmie last month face several new charges, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office.

The sheriff's office said one teen remained on the run Wednesday, a week after the escape, but the list of charges filed Tuesday included him. A charging decision on the fifth teen is due by Friday, prosecutors said. The boys range in age from 14 to 17, including a 15-year-old who was convicted of a murder in Burien last year.

The new charges filed this week include felony robbery, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, vehicle theft and escape. Charging documents detailed for the first time how the teens were able to escape the rural facility and steal a state vehicle.

Related: Teens Appear In Court After Echo Glen Escape

In court filings, a King County detective said the boys were living in the same housing unit at the "medium/maximum security" juvenile detention facility. Detectives said six teens acted together in the escape, which included assaults on several staff members and locking two inside cells, before five of the boys escaped in a stolen Ford Fusion and fled the area.

According to a probable cause document, three staffers were present for the incident, and prosecutors said each was assaulted during the escape. Prosecutors said one staff member was punched and threatened with a knife and had his wallet, phone and personal keys taken, along with the keys to the vehicle later used to escape. Another staffer told investigators she was struck in the forehead and locked in a cell.

Detectives said the third staffer was just arriving for a shift and was still outside the housing unit when she noticed something was amiss and alerted the main office of a situation. As the teens ran outside, detectives said one teen slashed a knife at her, wounding her hand, and was hit in the back of the head as five of the teens got inside the stolen car.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office said at least two of the teens will be charged as adults due to their ages. Prosecutors also asked a judge to move the 15-year-old with a previous murder conviction to adult court to face the new charges, but a final decision was still pending.

The sixth teen involved in the escape did not leave the property, and prosecutors said a case for them had not been referred to their office. Two other teens living in the unit were not involved, investigators said.