CAPTURED: Seattle Police arrest robbery suspect Aisha Newman after trespassing call
KING COUNTY -- Aisha Newman was booked into the King County jail on Monday, June 10th. Seattle Police East Precinct officers arrested her after responding to a trespassing call at 710 Cherry St. She was found hiding inside the bathroom of a unit.
Newman s being held on $80, 150 bail for Criminal Trespass 1, Failure to Appear for Robbery 2nd Degree, Failure to Appear Assault 3rd Degree and Failure to Appear ID Theft 2nd Degree.
WANTED IN SEATTLE --
Aisha Newman has multiple warrants for her arrest, but let's start with the most recent – a robbery where detectives say she threatened to taser a store manager at a Safeway in the Victory Heights neighborhood of Seattle.
Surveillance video below shows Newman entering the store with an empty cart, but when she left, her car was full of groceries worth more $300 that detectives say she didn't pay for.
What happened next is why she’s now charged with Robbery in the 2nd degree. "You watch the suspect leave the store and the person in charge, the manager, grabs physically a hold of the cart and this is where things go bad. There's arguing back and forth. He's questioning whether she even bought the groceries. She points toward the deli and said, ‘I paid over there.’ He says, ‘The deli register is not even open and besides, we put everything in sacks.’ More arguing, he puts the cart trying to grab it back in the store and this is when she backs off, takes her right hand, sticks it in her pocket and very explicitly says, 'Dude. I will tase you." The manager backed off, because he believed her and as she left, he followed her outside and was able to take a great photo of her wearing the white hat.
Seattle Police quickly identified her as Newman.
She's also been charged with Assault in the 3rd degree and Possession of a Stolen Vehicle after officers says she was driving a stolen car in Capitol Hill and when they tried to arrest her, she claimed she had an infectious disease and would stab them with a needle. One officer suffered cuts to his leg and neck, but no needle was found.
Newman is also wanted by the King County Sheriff's Office for identity theft, after deputies say she gave them the name of a girl she'd gone to high school with when they found her passed out in a car in SeaTac. Prosecutors say the victim even got a $3,000 hospital bill because Newman fraudulently used the woman's name when she was treated after complaining about overdose symptoms.
"She has no felony convictions, but five gross misdemeanor convictions for Theft 3, Possession of Stolen Property, Taking a Motor Vehicle without paying for it, without owner permission, that's auto theft, so this isn't her first rodeo. She's out stealing stuff and when she gets caught, that's when she goes into the threat mode and that's what we have here,” said Carner.
Newman was released from jail last December to start inpatient treatment and now she's on the run and Seattle Police need your help to find her.
She's 29 years old, 5'5” and weighs 100 pounds.
If you know where officers can find her, Crime Stoppers will pay you a cash reward of up to $1,000. You will be anonymous. Submit a tip through the P3 Tips App that you can download to your phone for free, or call 1-800-222-TIPS(8477).