Two teens arrested in racial incident

EVERETT – Two white teenagers have been arrested in the spray-painting of a racial slur and other vandalism of a black family’s car in the suburban Silver Firs neighborhood.

The 16-year-old Everett boys were arrested Tuesday for investigation of malicious harassment, Snohomish County sheriff’s Deputy Rich Niebusch said.

Investigators believe the pair sprayed a racial epithet and another insult – both misspelled – onto a gold Cadillac outside the home of Ravonne and Joyce Whitlow, slashed all four tires and poured more than five pounds of sugar into the gasoline tank Oct. 4.

Damage was estimated at $4,000.

Deputy prosecutor John Stansell said Thursday that he did not have enough information yet to say whether the incident was racially motivated.

The crime of malicious harassment involves action against someone based on their race, Stansell said.

Penalties could be up to five years in juvenile prison and a $5,000 fine, he said.

Both teens were booked into the Denney Juvenile Justice Center, one on $1,000 bail and the other on $2,500 bail.

“We want to see justice done,” Joyce Whitlow said Wednesday. “This was not just malicious harassment, it was a hate crime. We’re African-American people who want to live in peace.”

The instigator apparently was the girlfriend of one of the boys, according to documents filed in Juvenile Court.

The girl, who is also white, had argued with the Whitlows’ 14-year-old daughter at school, the documents said.

The girlfriend told investigators she provided the sugar, and her boyfriend said she also provided a knife that was used to slash the tires, prosecutors wrote.

According to the court filings, his fingerprints were found on the car’s gas cap.

The girlfriend has not been arrested but remains under investigation, Stansell said.

Whitlow said her family is not vindictive but wants those who were involved to take responsibility for their actions.

“It’s about getting the message across to teenagers that you can’t go around destroying people’s lives and property because you’re angry,” she said. “Our family is a family that’s willing to forgive, because we all make mistakes.”