SEATTLE — One year ago, Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison said some repeat offenders were falling through the cracks, and she launched a new program to combat the issue.
On Friday, Dylan Jackman, a man Davison identified as a "prolific offender," was sentenced in court.
Jackman pleaded guilty. During his sentencing, his attorney referenced his severe substance abuse. Since 2021, there were 19 referrals to the City Attorney’s office for Jackman. Prosecutors say Jackman routinely shoplifted and threatened employees at a store in north Seattle.
"I am really sorry about the continuous offenses, but they won't continue from this point on,” Jackman said in court.
Jackman landed on City Attorney Ann Davison's radar last year.
“When someone is involved in multiple crimes in a day, that is not something we can ignore,” said Davison in March of 2022.
Davison put a spotlight on him as she launched a crackdown on crime with her High Utilizer Initiative, a program that she says identified 118 repeat offenders who over five years time were responsible for more than 2,400 criminal cases. Jackman was on that list. He has been in jail since May of 2022.
"Parties are jointly recommending that the court sentence Mr. Jackman to a residential DOSA,” said Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Nicole Lawson.
DOSA is the state's Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative. Both the prosecutor and the defense attorney asked for the court to recognize Jackman's time served and allow him to leave jail and go directly to treatment.
"We believe that long-term community safety is better achieved through treatment,” said defense attorney Edna Enriquez.
"It is not permitted. It is not allowed by the legislature for violent offenses,” said Judge Catherine Shaffer. "He threatened to kill one, pulled a sharpened spearhead on the other, and had to be talked into dropping a shovel he was wielding as a weapon in a separate instance."
"Too much risk, too many offenses, too much violence,” said Judge Shaffer who sentenced Jackman to serve 29 months. He does get credit for the 10 months he has already served in jail.
“The number of organized retail cases we charged last year is double than the year before,” said Casey McNerthney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
According to KCPAO, in 2021 there were 29 organized retail theft cases, as well as an additional nine in juvenile court. Last year, there were 80 cases plus two juvenile filings.