Gang members wanted for Craigslist ad assault arrested

The Olympian | • Published December 14, 2007

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Two men wanted in connection to an assault related to a Craigslist ad were located and arrested Thursday, an Olympia police press release said today.

Tuan Q. Vuu, 23, was arrested at about 1 p.m. in Seattle, with help from the Seattle police department.

Keith E. Brakes, 19, was arrested in Federal Way at about 11 p.m. with help from King and Pierce County law enforcement officers.

Vuu and Brakes are suspected of setting up a meeting last Friday at the parking lot of Car Toys on Pacific Avenue with a man who placed a Craigslist ad to see a Global Positioning System. There, Vuu slashed the man's neck with a knife, and Brakes shot him in the chest with a semiautomatic handgun, court papers state.

The attack might have been a "setup" — a retaliation by members of the True Brothers, or "Tin Bahn," gang in Olympia who thought the victim had robbed their friends in Tacoma, police said.

Vuu was booked into the King County Jail on suspicion of first-degree assault and first-degree robbery. Brakes was booked into the Thurston County Jail on suspicion of first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Sixteen-year-old Jimmy Trac, who was already in police custody, is suspected of driving the getaway car.