Gunmen threaten Evergreen students

By Jeremy Pawloski | The Olympian • Published October 11, 2008

OLYMPIA – Three masked gunmen crashed a get-together being held by three Evergreen State College roommates at a home in the 800 block of West Bay Drive about 9:30 p.m. Oct. 3, demanding "jewels, cash and drugs," one of the roommates said.

Olympia Police Lt. Steve Oderman said that the three victims who live in the home do not appear to be involved in drugs and "were all pretty traumatized" by the home invasion.

Two of the roommates — Zach Kreinik, 19, and Evan Mangold, 21 — discussed the experience in interviews Friday.

They said that two gunmen came from behind the house, and another came from the front, converging on a porch where some of the people at the gathering had congregated to smoke cigarettes.

The gunmen, who sometimes spoke to one another in Spanish, pointed their weapons at the eight people at the gathering, then directed all of them into a back bedroom in the house and forced them to lie on their stomachs with their hands over their heads, Kreinik and Mangold said.

As one gunman watched over the victims, the other two ransacked the house, the victims said. The gunmen also took wallets and cell phones from the victims, and filled shopping bags and backpacks with DVDs and other items, the victims said.

"They kept repeating, 'Where are the jewels, cash and drugs at?' " Kreinik said.

Said Mangold on Friday, "We're college students; we don't have money. We didn't have anything that they were looking for."

During the robbery, one of the housemates who was lying in the back bedroom was able to call 9-1-1 and tell the dispatcher they were the victims of an armed robbery before hanging up, Kreinik said.

Kreinik and Mangold said they think that when a police car drove to the scene, the gunmen dropped all of the items they were about to steal and took off.

Mangold and Kreinik said that since the robbery, they have been paranoid and upset.

"The whole thing was, the only word I can use would be traumatic," Mangold said.

Soren Wellman, 21, an Evergreen student who also was at the gathering, said that after one of the roommates spoke back to one of the assailants, another said, "Take him to the back; we're going to get messy in the bathroom. We're going to make an example of him."

The only things stolen during the home invasion were a laptop, a couple of wallets and a few cell phones, Wellman said. It appears that when a police car showed up, the robbers dropped most of the stolen items and fled, he added.

"I believe that's the reason they left, because there was a police car," Wellman said.

Wellman said he was able to jump out a window and call 9-1-1.

People at the gathering were drinking alcohol and playing drinking games, Wellman said.

Oderman said that there have been no recent similar home invasions like this anywhere in Thurston County.

Jeremy Pawloski covers public safety for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5465 or jpawloski@theolympian.com.