Apparent Washington state cop killer Maurice Clemmons slipped through the cracks in the justice system, a Seattle Times recounting has found. Example: a state corrections officer saw a “crime stoppers” sketch on a bank robber that resembled Clemmons and called in the tip. A Crime Stoppers operator said they had “received too many tips/leads already” and refused to take more tips from the corrections department.
A detective says Clemmons would have been a “person of interest” in connection with 11 armed robberies between April 2008 and April 2009 that were takeover style and professionally executed–if the detective had been told about Clemmons’ resemblance to the sketch of the suspect. Released from Arkansas on parole for aggravated robbery and theft in 2004, Clemmons moved into a Seattle apartment with his half-brother, Rickey Hinton, who is now charged with aiding Clemmons while he was on the run.