Some riot suspects enter diversion program

By Jeremy Pawloski | The Olympian • Published June 05, 2008

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OLYMPIA – Four of eight people charged with felonies in connection with a Feb. 15 riot at The Evergreen State College have been accepted into a diversion program that could allow them to plead guilty to misdemeanors, court papers state.

The charges will be reduced only if the four complete the program and pay Evergreen back a total of $44,694 for damage caused during the riot, court papers state.

Criminal charges against a fifth person, Chase Hill, will be dropped if he completes the program, called Friendship Diversion Services, court papers state. He must pay Evergreen $541 in restitution as part of the program. Hill is accused of hiding the rear seat of a destroyed Thurston County sheriff's patrol car in his dorm closet at Evergreen.

Four of the five defendants accepted into the diversion program are Evergreen students.

All five were arrested in connection with damage during a riot outside a hip-hop concert at Evergreen. During the riot, four Thurston County sheriff's patrol cars sustained more than $50,000 in damage, and one was flipped and destroyed by a mob after police had retreated.

Hill was arrested based on a tip that he had the patrol car seat. The four others arrested in connection with damage done during the riot were identified from video taken by concertgoers that was turned over to police.

Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Ed Holm said he signed off on the diversion-program agreement for the five defendants. The defendants must complete community service and pay restitution to avoid felony convictions.

"I want to punish these kids without marring them for life," Holm said.

Even if the defendants had been convicted of felony malicious mischief, they likely would not have spent much time in jail, if any, given their lack of serious criminal histories.

Holm also said the diversion program requires greater supervision than what defendants would be subject to if they were convicted of low-level felonies.

Thurston County Chief Criminal Deputy James Chamberlain said Sheriff Dan Kimball was consulted on the diversion-program offers. The stipulation that the defendants be required to pay restitution was important for the sheriff's office, Chamberlain said.

Evergreen has reimbursed the sheriff's office for the more than $50,000 in damage done to the patrol cars, but the sheriff does not want the public to foot the bill paid by the public school, Chamberlain said.

"If they complete their diversion program and don't get in any more trouble, it might be a reasonable alternative," Chamberlain said. "Hopefully, they will learn their lesson."

All five defendants also agree "to testify truthfully in accordance with (his or her) proffer against the other co-defendants," court papers state. Each must pay $300 in court costs.

Holm said the prosecutor's office has been doing diversion for more than 20 years, and more than 100 people are allowed into the program every year.

Gregory Krall, programs manager for Friendship Diversion Services, said Wednesday that a typical diversion program takes one year.

The annual fee, which the participant must pay, is between $750 and $1,200, depending on the participant's income. The program includes regular reporting and a community-service requirement that is monitored by program officials, Krall said.

Friendship participants must complete 50 to 120 hours of community service annually. Participants' specific requirements are kept private, Krall said.