Save Mr. Peepers!
Everett, WA
A Seattle man has been charged with a slew of crimes that involved an alleged shoplifting, assaults and a pet duck named Mr. Peepers. Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Stern on Thursday charged Kenneth Blaine Quinlan, 35, with two counts of third-degree assault and one count each of vehicular assault and hit-and-run.
Authorities say that on March 23, Quinlan and his 39-year-old girlfriend drove to a Lynnwood shopping center, where he entered a Linens ‘n Things outlet and she went into a Petco store, taking the duck with her.
Stern wrote in court papers that a security guard thought he saw Quinlan shoplift an iPod speaker system, and a scuffle ensued.
Police say the guard chased Quinlan to the Petco store, where Quinlan got the car keys from his girlfriend and tried to escape.
The man jumped into the driver’s seat of the car as the woman walked out of the store with her duck. Not knowing what was going on, she tried to stop him from driving away and was knocked down by the open car door as it backed up. She dropped the duck.
A Petco employee saw what was happening and “ran to save Peepers from the front of the car” just as Quinlan drove forward, Stern wrote. The car ran over the woman, inflicting serious injuries including broken bones in her foot and ankle, he said.
Charging papers say Quinlan continued driving and didn’t stop until his vehicle struck another car nearby.
The girlfriend and guard were not seriously hurt. Mr. Peepers was OK.
Quinlan was being held in the Snohomish County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail. A convicted felon and former heroin addict, he told officers that he’d just received a dose of methadone at a Lynnwood clinic and had used cocaine a few days earlier, according to court papers.
Found in the Olympian
Thanks Nightmare1970!
April 18th, 2007 at 2:04 am
Evil Mr. Peepers mind control of the man had lost it’s strength and the man was trying to escape him and would let nothing stand in his way.
April 18th, 2007 at 4:10 am
Interesting turn of events.. The part that bothers me is “a security guard thought he saw Quinlan shoplift an iPod speaker system, and a scuffle ensued” I’m pretty sure in all states it is illegal to attempt to detain a shoplifiting suspect inside a store (it ain’t shoplifting ’til you leave the store without paying), you also need to be surer than “thought you saw” to detain them outside (unless you want to get your employer and/or the store sued for false arrest). It seems possible that he didn’t really steal anything (no mention of it being found on him), but just freaked out when the guard accosted him (a junkie with a record isn’t going to hang around, I don’t think). It would be interesting to see how this one settles out.
April 18th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Snohomish Hi-ballin’! It’s a grand sport!
April 18th, 2007 at 7:48 am
I forgot to mention that I think this guy was really ducked up!
April 18th, 2007 at 11:46 am
roflmao!!! Surely this must have occurred in greater downtown Punkevania…
and to think at one time that I worried about my sanity and the job……
April 18th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
The man had MAYBE tried to shoplift an iPod speaker system? From a Linens & Things? Guess I haven’t been in one of those stores in quite a while.
We had a couple of ducks when I was growing up. The one thing we found out the hard way was that ducks get real nervous when around a lot of people or being in a moving vehicle. When ducks get nervous they poop…A LOT….NON-STOP.
April 18th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
He told the officiers that he just finished taking drugs? What ever happened to “you have the right to remain silent?”
If this guy had kept his mouth shut he woould have had a chance of beating this thing - there was no evident of shop lifting, the girfriend isn’t going to press charges (not much of a girfriend if she does), the PetCo lady ran infront of this car to save a duck and he could argue that the the accident is a civil matter caused in part by an over-reactive security guard. The only thing they could get him on would have been hit & run for not stopping after he hit the PetCo lady - and that would have beedn under extenuating circumstances.
July 28th, 2007 at 10:25 am
I want to thank mr sawyer and ironman they both hit the nail on the head. Kenneth is my son not the smartest in the world. However he was pursued by the security guard and caught from behind and choked until even the petco employees shouted let him go your killing him. He had nothing in his hands . He then panicked . I tried to get him to go for a trail.However the district attorney convinced him that it would be much worse and he would add new charges. So here he is looking at a lot of years in prison as a violent offender and there is nothing we can do. I would also note that his sister baled him out and he made every court date . However the money would have been better spent on an attorney. Anyway THANK YOU
July 28th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
KENNY’S LITTLE SISTER / My BROTHER THE ANIMAL LOVER
Hi my name is Patricia. I am Kenny’s little sister. I would just like to say that I was happy when I read the responses on this blog. My family has suffered greatly as a result of this incident. My mother even had a Heart Attack shortly after the incident, because no one looked at my brothers side of the story. For one Peppers is my brothers pet duck he got that duck after the duck’s mother had abandoned it leaving it to starve. Not only did he rescue Peepers the Duck but before Peepers there was Lucy the pigeon who had a broken wing. Lucy returned flew back to nature after her wing had heeled.
September 4th, 2007 at 10:22 am
I was Mr Peepers neighbor. I can vouch for Kenny’s love of animals. Shelly and Kenny inherited a three foot long Iguana (left by previous tenant) and took great care of him too. I was saddened to hear of the trouble and know from talking with Shelly that it really was a bad scene made worse by panic.
I miss Peepers. Miss seeing him walk down to get the mail with Kenny, perched on the dashboard of the car, and foraging for worms in the backyard.