Sheriff's Department Arrests Husband and Wife Team Accused of Crime Spree

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A husband and wife team wanted for a month long crime spree that included the attempted murder of a sheriff's deputy and several carjacking’s in Los Angeles County, a jail break in San Bernardino County and the murder of a retired schoolteacher in Contra Costa County were captured today near Seattle.

The arrests of 24-year-old Darnell Keith Washington and his 25-year-old wife Tania Le'June Washington took place about 11 a.m. in the Seattle suburb of SeaTac, which surrounds Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Nicole Nishida of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

"It happened just a couple of hours ago and our homicide investigators immediately left for the airport to fly to Washington,'' Nishida said.

During the couple's arrest, police in Washington also recovered a stolen Subaru Outback that has been missing since the fatal stabbing of  Susie Ko, a 55-year-old retired schoolteacher, in her Northern California home on Friday, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The couple's run on the lam ended today when Ko's car was spotted by a police officer in a Seattle suburb. The pair tried to flee the scene, ramming several police cars in the process, but they were eventually boxed in and captured at gunpoint, according to the Mercury News.

The crime spree the Washington’s are alleged to have committed began in August.

With the alleged help of his wife Tania, Darnell Washington escaped from the San Bernardino County Jail on Aug. 28. Darnell Washington was in custody for robbery and receiving stolen property. He was a pre-sentenced inmate and scheduled to go to court on Sept. 14, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Shortly before 9 a.m. on Sept. 2, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy John Marquez approached a suspicious vehicle in South El Monte, according to Nishida. Darnell Washington then allegedly exited the vehicle and fired his shotgun at Marquez, wounding the deputy.

The couple then carjacked a nearby vehicle after the shooting and fled the scene. The pair abandoned the stolen car in South Gate and then carjacked a 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager which remains missing, according to Nishida.

The couple's whereabouts and actions since the Sept. 2 attempted murder of Marquez are not known. It is also unclear which county -- Los Angeles, Contra Costa or San Bernardino -- will get the first crack at prosecuting the Washington’s.

"Usually, it's the jurisdiction where the most serious crime occurred that gets the first chance to prosecute suspects wanted in multiple jurisdictions,'' Sandi Gibbons, communications director for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, told City News Service.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has not officially requested extradition of the Washingtons because their arrests just occurred today, Gibbons said.

"But we did file a warrant for their arrest on Sept. 20,'' Gibbons said. "The case is being handled by our Crimes Against Police Officers unit.''

Darnell Washington is charged with seven felony counts and Tania Le'June Washington with six. The additional count against Darnell Washington is for being a convicted felon in possession of a gun.

From City News Service

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