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Charging documents detail the attack
A 23-year-old Tukwila man faces charges of rape, robbery and assault for allegedly attacking a female jogger on a trail in Renton near the Seattle Sounders training facility.
King County prosecutors argued Sept. 18 in King County Superior Court that Thomas Elijas Moss should be held on $1 million bail and a judge agreed, according to a Sept. 18 email from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. As of Sept. 18, Moss remained in the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle.
Prosecutors charged Moss with second-degree assault with sexual motivation, second-degree rape and second-degree robbery, according to charging documents filed Sept. 18.
Moss is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Sept. 23 in Courtroom GA of the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
At about 9:24 a.m. Sept. 12, Renton Police were dispatched to a report of a physical assault involving a male vs. a female in the 1900 block of Oakesdale Avenue SW. The woman called 911 to report the attack and request aid for strangulation, according to probable cause documents.
The woman told police she went on a run while her teen son played soccer at the nearby complex. While running, she noticed a man on a bicycle near the Federal Reserve Building, 2700 Naches Ave. SW. The man reportedly called out to her, which made her feel uneasy so she decided to run northbound through a parking lot of Kaiser Permanente, 1300 SW 27th St., then crossed through bushes on the far north side of the location as she knew that there was a trail just behind them that would connect her back to the Sounders facility.
As she ran onto the trail, she was pushed to the ground, according to court documents. She said that a male attacked her, and it was the same male she had noticed earlier on the bicycle. Throughout her statements to police, she described the male as a Black man, wearing a purple hoodie with ears attached, and glasses. The male had his hoodie pulled tight over his face.
The woman said she began to yell out for help, and could see the fence of the Sounders facility. However, Moss reportedly put his hands over her mouth and throat and began to strangle her, according to court documents. Moss allegedly fought with her continuously placing significant pressure on her neck, sometimes with one hand, sometimes with both, causing her to feel like she was going to black out. She said that she could not breathe and that Moss twisted her neck.
As they continued to struggle, Moss allegedly sexually assaulted the woman. He then pulled her Garmin watch off her wrist and took her cellphone. She noticed a passerby walking on the trail and tried to look at him to get his attention. Moss also noticed the passerby and loosened his grip on the woman. She was able to get up and run away and reportedly knocked off his glasses.
A detective noted during a visit with the woman in the hospital that she had distinct red marks around her neck, consistent with strangulation, as well as a dark redness in her right eye as she moved it from side to side, according to charging documents. Her arms and legs had significant red marks as well as large cuts and gashes, as she indicated the assault had occurred on loose rock. Her voice was already somewhat hoarse, and she would take a long time to swallow because it caused pain to her neck and throat.
The passerby told police his son plays on a soccer team that practices at the Sounder facility and he decided to take a walk on a trail that goes around the complex, according to court documents. He said he heard a voice ask for help and saw a man on top of a woman along the trail. He began to approach and the man got up and ran away.
Renton Police were unable to locate the suspect on the day of the incident. Police issued a media release with photos from video surveillance asking for the public’s help to find the man, which described the suspect as “an unidentified Black male wearing glasses and a bright purple hoodie with ears attached to the hood allegedly assaulted a female jogger with sexual motivation.”
One day later, on Sept. 15, a detective received an anonymous call from someone who reportedly knew Moss and identified him. Detectives later determined where Moss lived in Tukwila.
Detectives learned from the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab that DNA on the glasses found near the scene of the attack reportedly matched Moss.
Renton Police arrested Moss Sept. 16 in the 14800 block of Interurban Avenue South as he exited the tiny home park on a bicycle. Officers took him into custody without incident.
Before detectives could ask Moss any questions, he told them he did not wish to speak to police.
“Our officers worked continuously to identify the suspect and used every available resource to move this investigation forward for a quick resolution given the continued danger to the community that this suspect posed,” according to a police statement.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for the tiny home of Moss and reportedly found a purple sweatshirt with ears at the bottom of a laundry hamper.
