BY LORNET TURNBULLSeattle Times staff reporter

The final piece of the state’s domestic-partnership law, approved by voters amonth ago after a failed attempt by oppo-nents to get it repealed, goes into effect to-day. The so-called “clean-up” measure con-fers on registered same-sex partners andsome senior couples an assortment of mar-riage-like benefits not already provided inthe partnership law, and adds partners toevery section of state law that previously re-ferred only to spouses.

But even as state agencies move to imple-ment the expanded law, there is broad am-biguity over what it does and doesn’t pro-vide — particularly in areas such as health-

Domesticpartnermeasurekicks in

SOME RIGHTS AMBIGUOUS

Overlapping state and federallaws create some confusion

over what is required

See > DOMESTIC, A15

Locker’sdilemma:Go pro orstayput?SPORTS

> C1

HOLIDAYSCLOSE TOHOMEAn A-list of local eventsand seasonal fun

NW WEEKEND> SECTION D

Ruskellout asHawksGM?

SPORTS > C1

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2009

75¢ $1.00 outside King, Pierce,Snohomish, Kitsap counties

Independent and locally owned since 1896 seattletimes.com1.6 million readers weekly in Western Washington, in print and online

3 ROP

7 59423 24000 4

LOCAL FOG, MOSTLYSUNNY

High, 45. Low, 31. > B14

THU

NATIONAL NEWS Tiger Woods admits“transgressions” > A8

Hacked e-mails fromclimate scientists stirdebate > A7

BUSINESSHow can Obama boostthe job market? > A16

LOCAL NEWSNOAA hits snag in planto leave Seattle > B1

IndexASK AMY NWTHURSDAY B13

BUSINESS, STOCKS A17-20

CLOSE-UP A3

COMICS, PUZZLES B11-13

CROSSWORDS NWTHURSDAY B12

DEATHS, FUNERALS NWTHURSDAY B2

EDITORIALS A21

JERRY LARGE NWTHURSDAY B1

LOTTERY, CORRECTIONS A2

NWWEEKEND D SECTION

SPORTS ON TV, RADIO SPORTS C2

WEATHER NWTHURSDAY B14

YOUR THURSDAY NWTHURSDAY B4

Classified adsNWAUTOS DIRECTORY C6

MERCHANDISE DIRECTORY B10

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PUBLIC NOTICES C7

60% of our newsprint containsrecycled fiber, and inks are reused.

� 2009 Seattle Times Co.

FOUR FALLEN OFFICERS

‘I didn’t want him to hurt any more people’

HER NEPHEW IS DEAD. HER HOME IS A MESS. BUT CHRISCEDA CLEMMONS KNOWS SHE DID THE RIGHT THING IN GOING TO POLICE

A L A N B E R N E R / T H E S E A T T L E T I M E S

Chrisceda Clemmons got four phone calls Sunday evening from Maurice Clemmons, her nephew, saying he had killed four police offi-cers and wanted to take refuge at her home. “He trusted me,” Chrisceda Clemmons said. “He trusted that I wouldn’t turn him in.”

Neighbors reach out to officer’s family

In the small town of Graham, residents are doing what they can to comfort the family of slain officer Gregory Richards. Volunteerfirefighters decorated the family home with Christmas lights. > A5

Arkansas pulled away“safety net” that prosecutorstrusted would keep Clemmonsbehind bars > A4

Man’s name used as aliasby suspected accomplice > A5

Photo of Clemmons’ bodycirculating on Internet > B1

E R I K A S C H U L T Z / T H E S E A T T L E T I M E S

BY ROB STEINThe Washington Post

WASHINGTON – The Obama administra-tion on Wednesday approved the first hu-man embryonic stem cells for experimentsby federally funded scientists under a newpolicy designed to expand government sup-port for one of the most promising — andcontentious — fields of biomedical research.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH)authorized 11 lines of cells produced by sci-entists at Children’s Hospital in Boston andtwo lines created by researchers at Rockefel-ler University in New York. All were ob-tained from embryos left by couples seekingtreatment for infertility.

“This is a real change in the landscape,”

New embryonicstem-cell lines get green light

BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S RESTRICTIONS REVERSED

NIH OKs research withpotential to cure disease

See > STEM CELLS, A15

BY NICOLE BRODEURSeattle Times staff columnist

“I am coming to your house,” he said.“I have killed four policemen and Ineed a place to rest and hide.”

We know now who that was: Maurice Clem-mons, the man who ambushed four Lakewood po-lice officers Sunday morning, killing them all.

But to Chrisceda Clemmons, 45, the voice onthe phone Sunday night belonged to her nephewMaurice. Her sister Dorothy Mae’s son. The kidshe used to baby-sit back home in Arkansas. Theman who seemed determined to succeed, but whohad also started to lose his mind last May.

He was in a car, on his way to his aunt’s Leschihome, where she lives with her husband, MichaelShantz, 58; their two children, Atticus, 13, andJuno, 7, and a friend’s daughter, Alanna, 15.Shantz’s two older sons, Ab, 25, and Teo, 21, whorent a house nearby, were also there.

They knew almost nothing about the events ofthe day: the shootings in the Lakewood coffeeshop or the massive manhunt for Clemmons, whohad been shot by one of the officers before the of-ficer died.

Chrisceda Clemmons and Shantz had spent theday in Lynnwood, where their band, Bakra Bata,had played at the opening of a transit station.Shantz had glanced at The New York Times on-line that morning and saw something about fourofficers in Tacoma, but forgot about it.

Their performance ended at 4 p.m., but theySee > AUNT, A4

BY STEVE MILETICH, CHRISTINECLARRIDGE AND MIKE CARTERSeattle Times staff reporters

A man with a double-murder con-viction in Arkansas drove MauriceClemmons to the area where fourLakewood police officers were shotto death Sunday, but it is unclearwhether he knew Clemmons

planned to kill the officers, accord-ing to court documents filedWednesday.

Darcus D. Allen, 38, who is want-ed in Arkansas on a robbery war-rant, was booked into the PierceCounty Jail on Tuesday and is underinvestigation for helping Clemmonsafter the officers were slain in a

Parkland coffee shop. Clemmons,37, was shot and killed by a Seattlepolice officer Tuesday.

In probable-cause documents, Al-len is quoted as telling detectives hedrove Clemmons in a pickup to acarwash two blocks from the coffeeshop. But he claims he stayed be-

Clemmons’ driver could facemurder charges in killings

Darcus D. Allen saidhe drove Clemmonsto carwash. See > ALLEN, A5

What the new state law covers, does not cover

Among the benefits covered:Health-care plans offered to employees ofstate and local governments

Health-care plans regulated by the stateand offered through private-sector employers

Bereavement leave for an employee whena partner dies

The ability of one partner to make medicaldecisions on behalf of the other

Inheritance rights in the absence of a will

The law does not extend or cover:Employment-related benefits for thepartners of federal employees

Taxes: The right to file joint tax returns

Immigration: The right to help aforeign-born partner gain legal status in theU.S.

Survivor benefits: The right of one partnerto claim the other’s Social Security ormilitary benefits

COBRA: The law does not require employersto extend COBRA health-care benefits to aformer employee’s partner

A4 News THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2009 1 ROP

FOUR FALLEN OFFICERS

didn’t get home until 6. Itwas almost 7 when thephone rang.

“Maurice sounded prettynormal, just a little hyped,”Chrisceda Clemmons re-membered Wednesday. “Hedidn’t sound weak from hisgunshot.”

He would call a total offour times, talking for a bit,then hanging up — but al-ways getting closer. He saidhe was trying to get as faraway from Tacoma as hecould. He felt safe in herneighborhood, he said, andthought she and her hus-band might help him byrenting a car and drivinghim to Arkansas — the placehe always consideredhome.

“He trusted me,” Chrisce-da Clemmons said. “Hetrusted that I wouldn’t turnhim in.”

But she did. And she wasthe only one. Other friendsand family are accused ofhelping Clemmons escapethe shooting scene, tendingto his gunshot wound,washing his bloody clothesand keeping him out of lawenforcement’s reach.

But Chrisceda Clemmonscouldn’t do that. She had tothink of her family. And sheknew her nephew was notwell. There was the time lastMay at his house in Tacomawhen “he got angry at some-thing” and started throwingrocks at his neighbors’houses and cars. One hit anelderly man. Later Clem-mons assaulted two sheriff’sdeputies.

And there were allega-tions of child rape and “reli-gious delusions,” Shantzsaid, that included Clem-mons’ belief that he wasGod, and that swine flu wasthe apocalypse.

Now this. Four cops dead,and he was headed theirway.

“I was in shock,” Chrisce-da Clemmons said. “That’swhen we gathered the kidsup and sent them away. I be-lieved Maurice when he saidhe had killed people. I knewhe was very angry and frus-trated. He was paranoid,and he was very frustratedand sick of the police.”

“Tired of these bitches,” ishow he put it. He told her hehad shot the officers inten-tionally, and believed thatthey were trying to chargehim with rape, which wouldhave given him “threestrikes” and sent him back toprison for life.

She asked Maurice if hewas armed. Yes, he said.

Shantz told him: “Youcannot come to the house.Period.”

He asked Maurice if hewas willing to get rid of thegun. No.

“Probably an hour passed,and I was getting more pan-icked,” Chrisceda Clem-mons said. “Then I just gotinto the car with Michaeland said, ‘Let’s go.’ ”

It was about 8 p.m. whenthey drove to the Seattle Po-lice Department’s East Pre-cinct. Shantz went in andleft his wife in the car. Theyknew that it was going to bea long night and hoped thatat least one of them wouldbe able to get to their kids,who were staying withShantz’s sons.

“I’m here to talk to some-one about Maurice Clem-

mons,” Shantz told the offi-cer at the desk. “I have fac-tual information about hiswhereabouts.”

The officer, who was onthe phone, told him to take aseat.

Fifteen minutes later,Shantz told his story, Chris-ceda Clemmons wasbrought in and before long,an army of police officersdescended on their neigh-borhood. There were snip-ers on roofs, police every-where. Neighbors couldn’tget to their homes. The siegewent on all night.

Still, “we don’t know ifMaurice was ever in thehouse,” Shantz said. “Thesergeant on the scene calledand told me he saw ‘him’ getout of a car and go up on theporch, but then we got cutoff.”

Dawn arrived. MauriceClemmons was nowhere tobe found.

His aunt doesn’t under-stand how he could havegotten away.

“They have all this man-power, snipers on all theseroofs and they let thiswounded man escape,” shesaid.

A wounded man who washer nephew. Who trustedher.

“Do I feel badly?” sheasked. “Yes, I feel bad, but itwas the right thing to do be-cause I didn’t want him tohurt any more people.”

Pierce County sheriff’sspokesman Ed Troyeragrees.

“Absolutely, she did theright thing,” he said.

But her nephew is dead,shot by a Seattle police offi-cer early Tuesday morning.

“I was actually relieved,”she said. “That he died wasthe best thing for him. Hewould rather die than goback to prison.”

Still, “I felt it was a ter-rible tragedy that he had tolose his life because of hismental disability,” she said.

And she feels awful aboutthe Lakewood officers. Theirfamilies. Their children. “It’sa terrible tragedy for anyoneto lose their lives this way,and I’m sorry.”

Now the cleanup begins. Chrisceda Clemmons is

looking for a lawyer to vol-unteer to help her familythrough their legal morass.

And the house where sheand Shantz have lived for 21years is trashed from thelong police siege. The cou-ple will have to clear a judi-cial review, they said, beforethey can receive restitutionfor the damage that wasdone.

There is a lot of it: Everywindow broken, furnitureand musical instrumentstossed all around. There aretear-gas casings piled by thefront door, which has a holepunched in it.

Shantz has been research-ing how to clean up the tear-gas residue that covers al-most everything, and pur-chased jumpsuits and gasmasks for the task.

Stand inside too long andyour eyes begin to water.Nicole Brodeur: 206-464-2334 or

nbrodeur@seattletimes.com

A L A N B E R N E R / T H E S E A T T L E T I M E S

Tear-gas casings lie in a pile outside the Leschi home ofChrisceda Clemmons after a long police siege.

< AuntFROM A1

A CHOICE TO DOTHE RIGHT THING

‘I didn’t want him tohurt any more people’

“That he died was the best thing for him.

He would rather die than go back to prison.”

CHRISCEDA CLEMMONSAunt of Maurice Clemmons

BY KEN ARMSTRONG,JIM BRUNNER AND MAUREEN O’HAGAN Seattle Times staff reporters

When a Pierce Countyprosecutor appeared in courton July 2 and requested thatMaurice Clemmons be heldon $300,000 bail, the prose-cutor knew he had a safetynet that could keep Clem-mons in custody no matterwhat — a fugitive warrantout of Arkansas.

But over the next threeweeks that warrant woundup being rescinded throughan unusual sequence ofevents captured in hearingtranscripts, correspondenceand e-mails.

In Pierce County, thecourts ultimately set bail forClemmons at $190,000 — afigure closer to that soughtby prosecutors than by Clem-mons’ defense attorney.

Arkansas, meanwhile,took steps that strippedWashington’s safety net —leaving authorities here bothangry and confused.

A central figure in that ef-fort is a former traffic judgeonce accused of threateningto kill a process server andfiling a false insurance claim.

Clemmons, 37, wound upposting bond on Nov. 23, se-curing his release from jail.Six days later he allegedlykilled four Lakewood policeofficers.

The controversy surround-ing Clemmons has becomeso intense that Gov. ChrisGregoire issued an orderWednesday barring Wash-ington from accepting anynew parolees from Arkansaspending further investiga-tion. “If Arkansas doesn’t likeit,” she said, “sue me.”

First ruling: No bailClemmons appeared be-

fore Pierce County SuperiorCourt Judge John McCarthyon July 2 to be arraigned oneight felony charges, includ-ing allegations that he hadpunched a sheriff’s deputyand raped a 12-year-old girl.

John Cummings, a deputyprosecutor, represented thestate. A Federal Way lawyer,Daniel Murphy Jr., appearedfor Clemmons.

Clemmons pleaded notguilty. Then the subjectmoved to Clemmons’ poten-tial release before trial.

“I would request bail, as itis presumed,” Murphy toldthe judge.

In Washington, bail is in-deed presumed: The state’sconstitution says “all personscharged with crime shall bebailable,” with the exceptionof capital cases. None ofClemmons’ charges qualifiedas a capital offense.

Cummings asked for$300,000 bail — $200,000for the child-rape charge,and $100,000 for the sevenother counts. The prosecutorcited Clemmons’ lengthycriminal record in Arkansasand said Clemmons might belooking at a third strike, in-creasing the risk he wouldflee.

Murphy proposed the totalbail be $40,000. He arguedClemmons wasn’t a flight

risk, sayinghe hadshown up incourt justthe day be-fore.

Murphyalso chal-lenged theprosecu-tion’s evi-dence: “Onthe rapecharges,there may

be a recantation anyway.”McCarthy wondered why

Clemmons had failed to ap-pear in court two monthsearlier.

Murphy said Clemmons“did not have notice” of thathearing. “He also has a medi-cal condition that was occur-ring right at that time,” Mur-phy said, adding that Clem-mons had “been on good be-havior for five years.”

McCarthy set bail for theWashington charges at$190,000 — $150,000 forthe rape charge, and$40,000 for the others.

In an interview Wednes-day, McCarthy called the$190,000 a “high bail.” Somepeople charged with similarcrimes even get released ontheir own recognizance, hesaid.

The bail amount, Cum-mings hoped, wouldn’t comeinto play anyway. That’s be-cause Clemmons’ recent run-ins in Washington allegedlyviolated his parole in Arkan-sas. He was charged with be-ing a fugitive from justice,and could be held withoutbail.

At the prosecutor’s re-quest, McCarthy ordered justthat: Even if Clemmonscould come up with the$190,000 bail for the Wash-ington charges, there was nobail on the fugitive warrant.

But Murphy said he hopedto clear up the fugitive mat-ter.

“I’ve contacted his former

attorney down in Arkansaswho is working on this,”Murphy told the judge.

No more safety netSix days later, on July 8,

North Little Rock attorneyStephen E. Morley wrote Lin-da Strong, an Arkansas pa-role administrator.

Morley had talked withMurphy and been briefed onClemmons’ situation.

Morley’s letter to Strongsaid: “It is my belief there issome confusion concerningMr. Clemmons’ status.”

Arkansas had apparentlyaccused Clemmons of beingan “absconder,” Morley said,and issued the warrant al-lowing him to be held with-out bail.

But the absconder labeldidn’t apply to Clemmons,wrote Morley, who askedStrong to rescind the state’swarrant so Clemmons couldpost bond in Tacoma.

Morley acknowledged thatClemmons faced newcharges in Washington. But,Morley wrote, it was his un-derstanding those charges“may be dismissed in thenear future.”

Morley’s letter also relateda conversation Murphy hadwith a Washington Depart-ment of Corrections (DOC)employee on May 6. TheDOC employee, Morleywrote, said that as long asClemmons stayed out oftrouble, the DOC wouldleave him “unsupervised.”

Morley’s letter could haveleft the impression Clem-mons was on good termswith the Washington DOC.But that wasn’t the case.

In the two months be-tween that May 6 conversa-tion and Morley’s July 8 let-ter, Clemmons had beencharged with rape and as-sault, and failed to appear incourt. DOC officials weredesperate to keep him in cus-tody.

A week after Morley’s let-ter, Arkansas withdrew itswarrant. Clemmons couldthen walk out of jail if heposted the $190,000 bail.

Morley is a former traffic-court judge who resigned in1997 while facing a judicial-ethics complaint. Among thecharges: He threatened tokill a process server, assault-ed two wives, used and soldcocaine and marijuana, fileda false insurance claim, andlied to police investigating ahit-and-run accident.

Morley denied the allega-tions but resigned before thecommission could rule. Thestate’s lawyer disciplinarypanel suspended his law li-cense for 60 days and fined

‘Safety net’ dissolved,so Clemmons got outARKANSAS RESCINDED

FUGITIVE WARRANT

Washington law required bail to be set

See > BAIL, A5

Bail was setat $190,000for MauriceClemmons.

C L I F F D E S P E A U X / T H E S E A T T L E T I M E S

Mourners hold their candles high at the Lakewood YMCA on Wednesday night at a vigil for the four Lakewood police officers who were shot and killed on Sunday. The crowd wasestimated at more than 2,000. Read more about the vigil and see more photos at seattletimes.com.

VIGIL DEDICATED TO LAKEWOOD OFFICERS

1 ROP THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2009 News A5

FOUR FALLEN OFFICERS

hind and smoked a cigar atthe carwash and didn’t knowwhat happened when Clem-mons walked away for awhile.

Clemmons returned to thecarwash complaining he hadbeen shot. Allen told detec-tives the pair drove a shortdistance before he decidedhe wanted “no part of this”and got out of the truck, thedocuments allege.

If police determine Allenknew of Clemmons’ plans, hecould be charged with themurders of the four officers,according to the PierceCounty Sheriff’s Office. He isbeing held on fugitive andprobation-violation warrantsout of Arkansas as PierceCounty detectives try tobuild a murder case againsthim.

During his court appear-ance Wednesday, Allen tolda judge he was “blind” aboutthe allegations against him.As the shackled Allen was ledout of the courtroom, heturned toward members ofthe media and said, “Helpme.”

Allen is one of six peopleaccused of helping Clem-mons while he eluded policeafter the four officers wereshot.

On Wednesday, LetreciaNelson, 52, and Quiana May-lea Williams, 26, appeared incourt and were each orderedheld on $500,000 bail on al-legations that they, alongwith Allen, provided help toClemmons.

Williams, a friend of Clem-

mons, bought peroxide,gauze and bandage materialto treat a gunshot woundClemmons suffered whenone of the Lakewood officersreturned fire in the coffeeshop, according to probable-cause documents. She alsodrove Clemmons to Seattle,the documents say.

Nelson, Clemmons’ aunt,directed another relative toturn car keys and moneyover to Clemmons shortly af-ter the Lakewood officerswere killed, the documentsallege.

When the relative said it“ain’t right” not to call police,Nelson responded, “It ain’tright, but family’s more im-portant,” according to thedocuments.

The newly filed court doc-uments also allege Clem-mons told people, includingAllen, on Thanksgiving Daythat he planned to kill cops,children at a school and asmany people as he could atan intersection.

Allen and Clemmonsserved prison time togetherin Arkansas in the 1990s andearly 2000s.

Clemmons spent two stintsfor robbery, burglary andtheft. Allen, convicted ofmurder in the 1990 killingsof two people at a liquorstore, served 14 years of a25-year sentence before be-ing paroled in December2005.

A fugitive warrant namingAllen for his alleged role inthe March 22 robbery of aBank of America branch inArkansas was issued earlierthis year.

In June, he was stopped bya Pierce County sheriff’sdeputy and cited for drivingwithout a valid license andmaking false statements. Thedeputy didn’t find any infor-mation on the warrant be-cause it had not been en-tered in the National Crime

Information Center (NCIC)computer, Pierce Countysheriff’s spokesman EdTroyer said Wednesday.

The warrant would haveallowed the deputy to takeAllen into custody and holdhim for Arkansas authorities.

It is not clear if the robberywarrant was issued beforethe June traffic stop, but Lit-tle Rock police never enteredthe warrant into the NCICsystem because investigatorshad no reason to believe Al-len had left the state, said Lt.Terry Hastings, the depart-ment’s spokesman.

Allen’s name was put inArkansas’ crime-informationcomputer system, Hastingssaid.

It wasn’t entered into thenational system untilWednesday morning, after itbecame known Allen was inWashington, Hastings said.

Troyer faulted Little Rockpolice for not entering theNCIC information until9:20 a.m. Wednesday, thelatest criticism of Arkansasauthorities who have facedquestions since Sunday overnot taking adequate steps tokeep Clemmons locked up.

“They did it now becausethe pressure is on them,”Troyer said. “That’s par forthe course with what’s beengoing on.”

Allen is believed to be oneof two men who entered aLittle Rock branch of Bank ofAmerica with handguns andordered customers to thefloor. One of the menjumped over the counter andtook money while the other,armed with a silver hand-gun, threatened clerks andcustomers, according tocourt documents.

Allen’s murder convictions

stem from the slayings of twopeople in a liquor-store slay-ing in Pulaski County, Ark.,in 1990, according to a storyat the time in the ArkansasDemocrat-Gazette newspa-per.

Killed were store ownerThomas Findley, 61, andclerk Charlotte Fowler, 41,the newspaper reported.

Allen, then 19, pleadedguilty to a reduced charge offirst-degree murder in Janu-ary 1991 and was sentencedto 25 years in prison, thenewspaper reported. Heoriginally had been chargedwith two counts of capitalmurder, aggravated robberyand theft.

The reduced charge andsentence allowed Allen, withgood behavior, to qualify forparole in fewer than sevenyears, the newspaper report-ed.

According to statements atthat time by the five defen-dants to police, two men en-tered the store while Allenand two others waited out-side in a stolen car, the news-paper reported.

The state’s case against Al-len was considered the weak-est of the five, but was bol-stered by the guilty plea of aco-defendant who agreed totestify for the prosecution,according to the newspaper.

Allen told Circuit JudgeJohn Langston in Arkansashe was aware a robbery wasplanned and that he sharedin the proceeds of the crime,the newspaper reported. Hesaid he had been drinking allday, but knew the two menwho entered the store hadguns and that he was soberenough to make a decision toend his participation. Seattle Times reporter Mike Carter

reported from Little Rock, Ark.Times news researchers Miyoko

Wolf and David Turim contributedto this story

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 orsmiletich@seattletimes.com

< AllenFROM A1

DRIVER DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF PLOT

Ex-con could face murder charges

G R E G G I L B E R T / T H E S E A T T L E T I M E S

Darcus D. Allen appears in Pierce County Superior Court.He is under investigation for assisting Maurice Clemmonsafter Clemmons killed four Lakewood police officers in acoffee shop Sunday morning.

BY LYNDA V. MAPESSeattle Times staff reporter

GRAHAM, Pierce County – It’sthe little things that matter mostright now, small kindnesses to helpfill a void.

In the days since Gregory Rich-ards, 42, was gunned down in a lo-cal coffee shop, officers from theKent Police Department, whereRichards began his law-enforce-ment career, have been outside hisGraham house in a patrol car.

They work six-hour shifts ontheir own time, so that his widowand three kids won’t feel alone.

“It is a constant vigil,” said Mela-nie Burwell, Richards’ sister-in-law.

“It’s that sense of support, a sa-lute to Greg. It lifts her that tinybit,” she said of Kelly, Richards’widow.

Volunteers from the Fire Depart-ment in Graham turned out Tues-day, some 15 firefighters and theirspouses decorating the Richards’home for Christmas. They were upon the roof, putting up lights. Tyingvelvet bows on the garage, and onthe front porch. Raising a Christ-mas tree on the lawn.

A firefighter brought a secondtree for the house, poking fresh andgreen out of his red pickup.

Neighbors arrived up the frontwalk, filling a basket with cards.

A steadily growing collection offlower arrangements, with picturesof Richards tucked amid theblooms, was taking shape as a me-morial display on the front lawn.

A neighborhood restaurant sentenough food for a banquet.

As night fell and the moon sailedfull and bright in the sky, theChristmas lights glowed — and theguys from Graham Fire and Rescuearrived in the ladder truck, just forthe Richards kids, to give them aspin around the neighborhood tolift their spirits. The truck, all lights

and siren and shining red paint,brightened what might otherwisehave been a too-quiet night.

A sign by the side of the road re-minds the family every time theycome and go: “As a CommunityNeighbors and Friends,” it reads.“Our Hearts and Prayers are WithYou.”

The U.S. flag at the entrance tothe development flies at half-staff;Dwayne Good, head of the neigh-borhood association, saw to that assoon as he heard the news Sunday.

Like others here, Good felt notonly grief and shock, but a sense of

being robbed. The Richards family had moved

here recently, just over a year ago.But they had become part of thecommunity.

This neighborhood is cul-de-sacAmerica, with perfect lawns andpeople who take pride in takingcare of them — and each other.

“He was someone you couldcount on to help with anything,”Good said, remembering Greg andKelly Richards arriving to helpshovel yard after yard of beautybark to neaten the development’scommon grounds.

Next-door neighbor John Brewerenjoyed sending his kids over towear themselves out on the Rich-ards’ trampoline.

“He was someone people wouldgo to for advice; he has three kids,he’s a police officer, he had seen alot of life. I thought, ‘When my kidsare in junior high, I’ll be talking tohim and my dad,’ ” Brewer said.

“You realize just how much wastaken from the family, the friends,the community. It’s one more voicewe won’t have to turn to.”

Neighbor Stu Wheeler was put-ting Christmas lights on his house

Sunday when he heard the news.By Tuesday, he said, he stillcouldn’t bring himself to lightthem. “It just didn’t feel right.”

Long after next Tuesday’s memo-rial service for the slain officers, thepeople here will still be there forthe family, said neighbor Cary Ber-tram. “This neighborhood hasturned out,” Bertram said.

“And as long as they are livinghere, our eyes will be on thathome.”

Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2736 orlmapes@seattletimes.com

A neighborhood holds family tightCONDOLENCES,

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONSFOR OFFICER’S FAMILY

Special firetruck ride

E R I K A S C H U L T Z / T H E S E A T T L E T I M E S

From right, on roof, Graham firefighters Kipp Krattli, Brandon Wetmore, Chris English and Luke Wahl help string Christmas lights with JeffDavison, on ladder, and others Tuesday at the Richards family home.

BY CHRISTINE CLARRIDGESeattle Times staff reporter

PARKLAND, Pierce County– Randy Huey — the real one— was “sickened andshocked” when he turned onthe news Tuesday night andlearned he was being calledan accomplice to allegedcop-killer Maurice Clem-mons.

“I heard the reporter say-ing my name and it was asickening feeling. I am notthat guy and I would neverdo anything like that,” saidHuey, 43, of Parkland.

Huey’s name was used asan alias by Darcus D. Allen,the man police and prosecu-tors describe as the getawaydriver for Clemmons, who al-legedly killed four Lakewoodpolice officers Sunday morn-ing. Huey’s name was con-tained in court documentsand released by police, andpicked up by KIRO-TV andseattlepi.com.

Huey knew both Clem-mons and Allen.

Huey met Clemmons, wholived around the corner fromhim, about a year and a half

ago. The two became friend-ly and Huey hired Clemmonsand his landscaping team todo some yard work.

Allen was one of the menemployed by Clemmons.Huey knew him casually.

Huey has since learnedthat Allen appropriated hisname some time ago.

When Allen was taken intocustody by police this week,he told them his name wasHuey, police said.

Huey said detectives cameto his home, showed one ofhis sons a photo of Allen and

asked, “Is this your dad?”Chris Grygiel, a news gath-

erer for seattlepi.com., saidthe Web site got Huey’sname from police.

Detective Ed Troyer of thePierce County Sheriff’s Officesaid Huey has no connectionto the officers’ slayings.

“It’s very upsetting andhurtful that he used myname,” Huey said of Allen.“I’m known in this communi-ty and I don’t believe in vio-lence or guns.”Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983

or cclarridge@seattletimes.com

G R E G G I L B E R T / T H E S E A T T L E T I M E S

Randy Huey was upset to learn that his name had beenused as an alias by an alleged accomplice in the shootings.

Alleged accomplice used an alias

him $1,000 for makingfalse statements in the hit-and-run accident.

Morley did not returnphone calls Wednesdayseeking comment. Murphycould not be reached, ei-ther.

With the no-bail holdlifted, Murphy moved toreduce Clemmons’ bail inthe child-rape case. He ap-peared July 24 beforePierce County SuperiorCourt Judge Thomas Fel-nagle.

Murphy wanted Clem-mons’ $150,000 bonddropped to “the neighbor-hood of $50,000.” Clem-mons wasn’t a threat to thecommunity, Murphy said.He was his family’s sole in-come earner. He had alsobeen seeing a counselor.

But deputy prosecutorAngelica McGaha saidClemmons was a flight riskand wouldn’t stay awayfrom the child he was ac-cused of molesting.

“I believe that he is athreat to the community,”she said.

Felnagle refused to re-duce the bond, citingClemmons’ “significantcriminal history” and howhe’d been “acting crazy.”

“The warning signs areall over the place,” Felna-gle said.Times news researcher MiyokoWolf contributed to this report.Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or

jbrunner@seattletimes.com;Maureen O’Hagan:206-464-2605 or

mohagan@seattletimes.com.

< BailFROM A4

‘SAFETY NET’DISSOLVED

Attorney soughtto lower bail