Video links man to alleged assault of prostitute in Mukilteo

MUKILTEO — It was a little after 5 p.m. April 7 when Mukilteo police were called to help a woman lying on the sidewalk along Mukilteo Speedway. She was bleeding from a knife wound in the back.

The woman, in her 20s, freely admitted that she was a prostitute. At the hospital, she said her attacker was a man who’d earlier agreed to pay her for sex but demanded his $60 back when the transaction wasn’t completed, Mukilteo police detective John Ernst said in court papers.

She’d encountered the man along Highway 99. The stabbing occurred as she let herself out of the man’s maroon SUV in the 11700 block of Mukilteo Speedway.

“I went in search of video in an effort to identify the vehicle,” Ernst wrote in a police report that was filed in Everett District Court on Friday.

The 12-page document described the path the detective took in identifying a Lynnwood man as the person police believe stabbed the woman and left her bleeding in the street.

Roland Leroy Cole, 40, was arrested Thursday afternoon for investigation of first-degree assault. He allegedly admitted paying the woman for sex and arguing with her over money along Mukilteo Speedway, but denied having anything to do with her stabbing.

The detective’s search for video led to footage shot by a surveillance camera at an auto dealership. It showed the stabbing victim climbing into an SUV. When Ernst sent out a police bulletin with a still from the video, he heard back from a Snohomish County sheriff’s detective who said the vehicle appeared to be a Chevrolet Blazer.

The detective found more surveillance video, this time from a fast-food restaurant, linking a maroon or red Blazer to the attack. He also spoke with witnesses who reported seeing the aftermath of the stabbing. One said the SUV had stickers in the windows, including one advertising the U.S. Army, and another that read “Got Jesus.”

The woman described her assailant as white, at least 6 foot 3 and upwards of 350 pounds. She also reported he had “spiky” hair and scars on his head.

The detective used the New World Law Enforcement Records Management System to search for people with those characteristics. When he found a possible match, he checked vehicle licensing records to see if the man owned a red or maroon Blazer.

Cole fit the bill. A booking photo snapped by Redmond police showed a scar “that ran from temple to temple across the top of his head. I believed that Cole was likely the suspect,” the detective wrote.

The woman reportedly picked out Cole as her attacker when shown his photo in a montage with other men.

Working with the Violent Offender Task Force, police tracked down Cole at his job in north Seattle. His Blazer was outside. It had stickers in the window as described by one of the witnesses, Ernst wrote.

After being placed under arrest, Cole reportedly agreed to provide a DNA sample and to speak with detectives.

He was jailed in connection with the attack although no charges have been filed.

Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snorthnews

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.