BELLEVUE, Wash. — A 30-year-old man has been charged after allegedly breaking into a Bellevue apartment and masturbating over a teen resident while she was sleeping, police said.
Steven Malepeai is charged with indecent exposure and residential burglary after being arrested on Sept. 17.
Court documents say Bellevue Police Department officers responded to an apartment on 14th Street around 5:45 a.m. for a report of a burglary. Officers arrived and found a man sleeping in a bed in the living room, court documents say.
Officers learned that the suspect had entered the apartment after the front door had been left unlocked by another resident, who had gone on a walk. One of the residents told police that she woke up to the man masturbating in front of her.
The woman and the other residents told the man to leave, and he responded "by raising a clenched fist." The victims then went and hid in another room of the apartment, while the suspect drank beverages from the fridge before falling asleep on a bed in the living room, court documents say.
Malepeai was arrested and booked into the King County Jail before being formally charged on Thursday. Prosecutors asked for $100,000 bail, which was granted by the judge in Malepeai's first court appearance. Proseuctors also asked the court for sexual assault protection orders for the victims and pushed for the defendant to have no contact with minors and prohibit him from possessing any weapons if he posts bail.
The suspect has three open criminal cases, including one for lewd conduct in Edmonds and one for criminal trespass in Lynnwood, according to charging documents.
