Man accused of helping trooper's killer speaks from jail

A man accused of helping the killer of Washington State Patrol Tony Radulescu said he had no idea the suspect was running from the law.

"(I) had no idea what he had done, that he was even running from the law," Steven Banks told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Richard Thompson in a jailhouse interview on Monday. "Had I known he did what he did, I probably would've kicked the ---- out of him."

Banks was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree rendering criminal assistance, a gross misdemeanor. He is one of six people who were accused of helping Joshua Blake flee after the February shooting.

"I told them what they wanted to know. They came in, and I guess, during that time Josh had shot himself in the head inside my trailer," Banks said.

"He (Blake) didn't seem to me like somebody who just killed a cop. He actually fell asleep on my couch."

When asked whether he had something to say to the family of Trooper Radulescu, Banks said, "I'm sorry for their loss. I had nothing to do with their loss. When I met Mr. Blake, the trooper was already dead."

KIRO