Kidnapping, robbery charges filed against former Port Townsend track star
Keith Thorpe/Copyright © 2013, Peninsula Daily News
Bereket Piatt crosses the finish line of a North Olympic Peninsula cross-country meet for Port Townsend High School in 2009.
By JEREMY SCHWARTZ
Peninsula Daily News
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EVERETT — Kidnapping and robbery charges have been filed against a former Port Townsend High School cross-country star.
Bereket Piatt, 20, is accused of robbing an Everett bank Jan. 23 after allegedly forcing an Everett Community College student at gunpoint to drive him to and from the bank.
First-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery charges were filed against Piatt on Tuesday in the Everett division of Snohomish County District Court, said Chris Dickinson, Snohomish County deputy prosecuting attorney.
Dickinson said he eventually plans to file charges in Snohomish County Superior Court against Piatt, who is being held in the Snohomish County jail on $250,000 bail.
The District Court filing will keep Piatt in the Snohomish County jail while Everett police detectives continue their investigation, Dickinson said.
“We're just continuing to follow up on different leads and make sure it all fits,” said Officer Aaron Snell, community information officer with the Everett Police Department, on Tuesday.
Tacoma police arrested Piatt on Jan. 31 after tracking Piatt's cellphone signal to a Tacoma train station, according to news reports.
Police account
Everett police gave this account:
Piatt approached an Everett Community College student as she was walking toward her car near the college at about 5 p.m. Jan. 23, pointed a gun at her and forced her to get in the car with him.
Piatt then forced her to drive to a Wells Fargo Bank in Everett and threatened her with death if she drove away while he went into the bank.
While in the bank, Piatt passed a note to a teller demanding money and left with an undisclosed amount of money.
Piatt then forced the student, whose name has not been released, to drive him back to where he originally abducted her.
Piatt won the Class 1A state cross-country championship as a junior at Port Townsend High School in 2009 and was named the All-Peninsula boys cross-country MVP by the Peninsula Daily News that same year.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: February 05. 2013 7:38PM
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