A 20-year-old Renton man was charged Monday with multiple felonies related to vehicle thefts, drug possession and assaulting a Renton Police officer with a car.
Cameron James Childs has links to the house at 370 Earlington Ave. S.W. in Renton, which was the subject of a regional SWAT raid on April 5 following years of police response to reports of criminal activity, including recovery of stolen vehicles.
Childs’ arraignment is May 23 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. As of Wednesday, he was being held on $120,000 bail at the county jail at the RJC.
The charges stem from cases investigated by the Renton Police Department and the Snoqualmie/North Bend Police Department.
Childs was arrested May 6 by Bellevue SWAT personnel after refusing for several hours to leave his house on Southeast Fifth Place in Renton. Renton Police assisted in the operation.
Childs was wanted by the Bellevue Police Department for the theft of a white Hummer H2 and a string of residential burglaries, according to the Renton Police Department incident report.
According to court documents, Childs is charged with:
• Attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle on Feb. 27
• Possession of a stolen vehicle, a Ford Expedition stolen in Renton on Feb. 22 or 23 that was recovered on Feb. 27 at 370 Earlington Ave. S.W. in Renton. Childs was arrested at the house. The Ford had fled from Snoqualmie Police on Feb. 26. It had run out of gas near I-90 and had been towed to a gas station.
• Violation of the Uniform Controlled Substance Act for possession of heroin
• Possession of a stolen vehicle for possession on March 17 of a stolen Nissan.
• Second-degree assault, for intentionally hitting a Renton Police vehicle with the officer still inside April 21 with a Toyota sedan, then fleeing the scene.
• Attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle stemming from the April 21 incident
Renton Police officers arrived at Child’s house at about 2:45 p.m. April 21, after receiving word he was there. Childs was wanted on a felony warrant for vehicle theft.
Soon, a black Toyota sedan left the driveway and officers position their cruisers to make a high-risk stop, according to court documents. The Toyota accelerated toward the officers’ cars, initially missing both. Then the Toyota struck one patrol car and ccelerated directly toward the other officer’s vehicle, ramming the front driver’s side. The officer wasn’t injured.
It then fled on 156th Avenue Southeast and was not located. An officer had positively identified Childs as the driver, according to court documents.
The next day at about 1 a.m. officers investigating a residential alarm in the area spotted two men in a late-model Hummer H2, which quickly spend off on 156th Avenue Southeast.
The Hummer blew through a red light at the bottom of the hill at the Maple Valley Highway, right in front of a King County deputy sheriff. It was last seen going south on Interstate 405.
On April 27 an officer contacted Childs by phone, who said another man was driving the Toyota and that man fled because he has warrants and the car was stolen. At that point, Childs seemed to consider surrendering to police, according to court documents.
The Toyota was later discovered in Issaquah.
On May 6, Childs surrendered at his house to the Bellevue SWAT team after about four hours when officers deployed a flash-bang device.
