A 27-year-old man who has been charged with two counts of first-degree robbery in a pair of Seattle carjackings was linked to three of the four attempted carjackings in Redmond on Sept. 19, according to court documents. The man held women at gunpoint in five of the six incidents.
Genede Ahmed Kedir is in custody at the Seattle Correctional Facility after being charged on Oct. 16 at King County Court and has bail set at $500,000. His arraignment was continued from Thursday to 8:30 a.m. Monday at the courthouse in Seattle.
A Redmond police patrol officer recovered latent fingerprints from the exterior of the black Honda Civic that had been carjacked in Seattle on Sept. 17 and was seen fleeing the Redmond incidents, documents state. The suspect crashed the Civic in Redmond and he fled the area.
The fingerprints helped identify the victim following a thorough investigation with the Redmond Police Department (RPD) and the Seattle Police Department (SPD), according to the RPD.
A Seattle police officer noted in documents that the print matched known prints of Kedir. During the search of the Civic, RPD also recovered an insurance card belonging to one of the Seattle carjacking victims. Further, a Seattle officer shared a sketch of the Redmond suspect with a Seattle victim, who said the sketch resembled her robbery suspect. One of the Seattle victims also identified the Redmond suspect out of a photo montage, an RPD release reads.
RPD Chief Kristi Wilson said she hopes the community and victims are reassured of their safety in knowing that a suspect has been arrested.
“We know this was an unsettling incident for Redmond, as we rarely see this type of crime. There was a lot of evidence to process, as he approached so many vehicles and women in the garage,” she said. “I’m so proud of our department for gathering statements quickly and thoroughly processing all the evidence. The fingerprint and items found were small details, but these critical pieces of evidence ultimately led to his identification and first set of charges.”
A few days after the Redmond incidents Seattle police took Kedir into custody on an unrelated incident, documents state. He also had a Renton warrant for a Theft 3 charge and a King County VUCSA warrant for a drug-related crime.
Seattle police arrested Kedir on Oct. 10 on warrants during SPD’s investigation of complaints of Kedir’s “unwanted touching of female students” on the Seattle Pacific University campus, according to documents.
Documents state that, according to court services, Kedir said he had been homeless for the past year and was living in Michigan before returning to Washington. Kedir noted that he was on an eight-month methadone program.
“Redmond police are currently coordinating with prosecutors on our case,” an RPD press release reads. A probable cause certification notes that the Redmond crimes are under active investigation and that Kedir is a likely suspect, documents state.
The three Redmond incidents occurred in the parking garage of the nearby Red 160 building at 16015 Cleveland St. The carjacking attempts were unsuccessful and the suspect took off in a black Honda Civic, which he crashed near the Wendy’s restaurant at 15945 Redmond Way, Becky Range, RPD public information officer, said in an earlier report.
The first attempted carjacking occurred at around 11:45 a.m. in the parking lot of Trader Joe’s at 15932 Redmond Way.
Range said a 74-year-old woman was approached by the suspect, who attempted to steal her car. The woman stomped on the suspect’s foot, pushed him down and drove off, calling the police once she arrived home — at 12:16 p.m. The suspect did not show a weapon at the time.
