MARYSVILLE—The Pacific Northwest Violent Offender’s Task Force (VOTF) had a busy year in 2024 with 206 felony arrests, 38 firearms recovered, 65 sexual assault arrests, 23 homicide arrests, and 68 DOC arrests. Last year also marked the most homicide arrests the task force has made since its founding in 2013.
Despite homicide arrests hitting an all-time-high, Detective Tim Leo, with the VOTF, informed the Lynnwood Times that the DOC (Department of Corrections) arrests are the “big ones” because it comes down to recidivism, a core objective of the force, and these are often criminals who repeatedly commit crimes.
The VOTF is cross commissioned by the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Western District of Washington and includes twenty seven federal, state, and local law enforcement partnering agencies. The task force specializes in locating and arresting violent fugitives for offenses such as homicide, assault, sex crimes, failure to register as a sex offender, firearm violations, and federal probation violations.
Deputies and officers assigned to the VOTF are referred to as Task Force Officers (TFO). TFO’s are deputized as Special Deputy U.S. Marshals, which grants them the authority to seek and execute arrest and search warrants supporting the federal task force under Title 18 authority.
The dream team of full-time detectives includes members from the U.S. Marshal’s Office, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, WA State Dept. of Corrections, Mountlake Terrace Police Department, and Mukilteo Police Department. Last year Detectives representing the Lynnwood Police Department and Everett Police Department were also part of the squad but due to staffing issues they were needed elsewhere within their agencies.
Having a variety of officers representing different cities benefits both the task force and their respective cities by creating a large range of coverage.
For one, the VOTF assists Patrol Officers by following up on arrest warrants which they may not have the capacity to focus on, or do the necessary investigations for, due to staffing levels.
Since their founding the VOTF has been responsible for more than 2,700 arrests.
“I think without law and order you would have chaos around here,” Detective Leo told the Lynnwood Times. “I enjoy our freedoms, and I enjoy protecting our freedoms.”
Leo’s biggest learning experience with the VOTF happened just a couple of months after joining the force. After working on a case for an attempted homicide in Oregon, Deputy Luke Robinson, the lead on the case, learned that the suspect frequented a Renton bar during early evenings. Leo and Robinson set up surveillance at the bar and spotted the suspect within 15 minutes of their arrival. They called for backup, but the suspect drove off before backup could arrive. Although the force had been working this case for six months, Leo had to let the suspect go because the “timing wasn’t right.”
“It was rush hour, downtown Renton….You get in a pursuit with this guy, he hits somebody, he hits a car or a kid crossing the street….How can we minimize risks, not only to us but more importantly to the people that are not invested in being police officers? I signed up to be a police officer. I understand the risk, but a mom and her kid walking down the street didn’t sign up for that,” Detective Leo told the Lynnwood Times. “This unit prides itself on making good decisions.”
The Lynnwood Times last did a ride-along with the VOTF in 2021 when Detective Leo observed there were quite a few challenges in carrying out their duties, from uncooperative civilians, to police pursuit law reforms, to emboldened criminals capitalizing in on the court system’s backlog of cases.
He was happy to report there, for the most part, has been an increase in civilian cooperation yet the challenges remain that criminals have become more violent and emboldened as of late — at least according to his observations.
Detective Luke Robinson with the VOTF substantiated Detective Leo’s observations by adding “it seems more, and more people have guns” and the weight of drugs that are being distributed seem to have skyrocketed, at least since he joined the force.
Some of the cases from 2024 that stood out to the VOTF Detectives include an incident involving a suspect who was involved in a White Supremacist crime ring in the Tacoma area. This man, and another suspect, were wanted for breaking into a home in Maple Valley and killing a woman, her partner, and their horse.
One of the suspects was spotted in Pierce County in a stolen car and engaged in a police pursuit, but exited his vehicle and began firing at the pursuing officers. He was killed by officers returning fire.
The other suspect, and alleged ringleader of the operation, was tracked down by the VOTF in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma. He was surrounded by VOTF Officers and was known to have guns, claiming that he believed his partner in crime died a hero’s death. When he slipped his hand into his pocket VOTF Detectives had reason to believe he had a gun and began negotiation tactics. These tactics were ultimately successful and the officers were able to apprehend him without incident.
The two suspects in question were Joshua Jones, 34, and Brandon Gerner, 41. Jones was charged with the double homicide by King County Prosecutors in February 2024.
Another arrest that came to mind, when asked, involved a member of a well-known Mexican Cartel who was wanted for his involvement in a murder that took place underneath the US 2 trestle in 2022. Through their investigation tactics the VOTF tracked him down at his South Everett address and arrested him without any shots fired, despite at first exiting his home with a loaded AR-15 assault weapon. The task force later did a sweep on his home and found several drugs and guns which were seized.
There is currently one available spot on the VOTF but the Detectives say the competition is “fierce.” When considering bringing someone onboard, the VOTF looks for patrol officers that not only put in the work with the arrests, but write good reports, are intelligent, and demonstrate the maturity the VOTF team attributes to their unit.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
