Evergreen State Fair worker arrested on fugitive warrant

EVERETT -- Seattle police detectives have arrested a 38-year-old employee of Butler Amusements at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe on a felony warrant for forgery out of St. Joseph County, Ind., Snohomish County Executive John Lovick said Tuesday.

Detectives had previously been investigating the man for possession of suspected child pornography after receiving a tip from Microsoft, Lovick said. The man was arrested without incident last Friday.

Evergreen State Fair now pays for background checks on all locally hired Butler Amusements employees. They instituted this policy after an incident last year, when Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies discovered that a woman working at the “kiddie land” portion of the fair was awaiting trial on child molestation charges.

“Keeping our fairgoers safe is our top priority,” said Tom Teigen, Snohomish County Parks director. “We conduct background checks on all our employees, as does Butler Amusements. At this time, we have no evidence that this employee engaged in any illegal activity while working at this year’s fair.”

No other details were immediately released.