Kent, Washington Man Who Engaged in Looting During Downtown Seattle Civil Unrest Sentenced for Illegally Possessing Firearm

The defendant had two loaded handguns in his car, even though he was banned from possession of firearms on the basis of a previous conviction

Aug 14, 2021 – Seattle – A 33-year-old man from Kent, Washington, was sentenced to two years in prison by the U.S. District Court in Seattle on August 10, 2021 for being in possession of a firearm during civil unrest and Looting in downtown Seattle, announced the incumbent US attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Al M. Talaga was arrested in September 2020 after an investigation into the events that began on June 1, 2020. As the verdict was announced today, US District Judge James L. Robart said, “You cannot have guns. We are talking about a phenomenon that afflicts our city. “

“This defendant was one of a relatively small number of people who abducted otherwise lawful protests to highlight the issue of racial injustice to destroy and steal goods from a small shop that had been closed for months because of COVID-19,” the officiator said US attorney Gorman. “He decided to make the situation even more dangerous by bringing loaded firearms into the area.”

According to the criminal complaint, Seattle Police officers responded to reports of a break-in and looting of the Sneaker City store on Pike Street in downtown Seattle on June 1, 2020. When the police arrived, several suspects escaped from the store. Witnesses said some of the looters loaded goods into a Dodge Magnum parked near the store. While searching the car for suspects, police officers found a number of items that appeared to have been taken from the store, as well as a gun in the driver’s door panel of the car.

The police confiscated the car and traced its belongings to Talaga. A court-approved search of the car revealed that there were two firearms in the car. In addition to the loaded Glock .40 caliber in the side pocket of the door, the investigators found a second loaded handgun under the doormat on the passenger side of the car. A law enforcement database review confirmed that the .40 caliber pistol under the floor mat was reported as stolen during a robbery at a home in Tacoma in 2019.

Talaga is banned from possession of firearms following a 2005 King County Superior Court conviction for second degree robbery.

When she asked for a 30-month sentence, Assistant Attorney Kate Crisham wrote in her conviction record: “In this case, Talaga had two easily accessible, loaded firearms in an unlocked car that he and others used as a container for the stolen goods looted from the store. A witness saw the looters drive stolen goods to Talaga’s car several times. As the probation officer noted, the firearms could very well have come into play if security or law enforcement officers had confronted the raiders near the car.

The case has been investigated by the Seattle Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF).

The case is being followed up by Assistant US Attorney Kate Crisham.

Source: DOJ Approval