Lynnwood woman arrested under state's 'hate crime' law for incident outside Edmonds' business

EDMONDS, Wash. -- Police on Wednesday night arrested a 45-year-old employee of Harvey's Lounge and booked her into jail under the state's "Hate Crime" law.

The incident occurred on Feb. 5, and the investigation included the reviewing of surveillance footage, interviews and consultation with the FBI, Edmonds police said.

The employee of Harvey's Lounge -- who is a resident of Lynnwood -- was seen on the business's surveillance video wielding a bat and yelling toward the victims -- an 18-year-old man and his 14-year-old sister.

The 18-year-old man told detectives he felt that he was about to be violently assaulted when the female employee came out of the business with a bat and yelled at them to leave the property while being called a derogatory racial slur.

Detective Julie Govantes "developed probable cause to believe that the victims were threatened and placed in fear because of their race while the suspect was armed with at bat," Edmonds Police said in a news release.

The suspect was arrested at her place of employment.