SEATTLE — Two men behind bars in connection to home invasions are now facing hate crime charges after prosecutors said they targeted Asian families.
Demarcus Pate and Javez Tubbs are now charged with hate crime, assault in the third degree, and burglary in the first degree after King County prosecutors were given new evidence last week by Seattle police.
According to prosecutor's the two men are linked to a group accused of committing three home invasions in less than two hours on June 25, plus a pattern of robberies across Puget Sound targeting Asian families.
Prosecutors said Tubbs and Pate targeted Asian residents and in some cases forced their way in while identifying themselves as police. New court documents showed the pair were violent. Some victims were held at gunpoint, pistol whipped and physically restrained while their homes were ransacked.
Court documents reveal at Tubbs' home police found a journal with more than 100 addresses written down including some of the victims.
"We looked at what police sent to us and we thought pretty clearly that we could file those additional charges," said Casey McNerthney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors said Tubbs and Pate carried out the assault maliciously and intentionally because of the perception of the victim's race and caused significant trauma and fear for Asian community members.
"I think a lot of people and we heard from some of them who said why didn't you charge a hate crime out of the gate. Not only is it challenging to charge these, you have to show motivation and we want to make sure we can get a charge that can get a conviction" said McNerthney.
McNerthney said they didn't have enough evidence for those charges until now.
"What we have now are cases that we believe we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt cases that we didn't have several months ago when these folks were arrested," McNerthney said.
Tubbs and Pate have remained in King County Jail on a $1.5 million bail for firearm related charges since Sept. 27, 2023 while the home invasion investigation continued.
Both pleaded not guilty to the firearm charges.
Tubbs and Pate are scheduled to be arraigned for the newest charges on March 7.