Dick's stabbing suspect released 6 days prior. But why?

Six days before police say Leon Caril II -- a mentally ill man and a two-strike felon -- made anti-white comments and randomly stabbed a man to death outside the Queen Anne Dick’s Drive-In, he faced a judge in a Seattle gross misdemeanor case.

At that court hearing, no one mentioned that he was a two-strike offender, meaning that another serious felony could send him to jail for life.

The assistant city attorney handling the case didn’t mention that Caril had a history of robbing people with a knife when she described his criminal past. Caril’s defense attorney acknowledged his general criminal history, but described it as “quite remote.”

When a judge was told Caril, who was given medication for his mental health problem, might stay at a shelter, no one took issue.

The assistant city attorney asked for a bail amount, that Caril possess no weapons, and other conditions. If there was concern that Caril's violent history could be exacerbated without permanent housing, no one told the judge.

When Caril’s defense attorney asked that he be released, saying that he could continue mental health treatment, the city gave no response. He was ordered not to possess weapons.

“I want you to get plugged back into Sound Mental Health,” Judge Faamomoi Masaniai said.

Six days after that hearing, police say Caril plunged a double-edged bowie knife through the random victim's chest three times.

Caril, 38, was found holding his luggage, and court records from days prior included a note: “Please verify address.”

Records don’t indicate if Caril actually stayed at one of the addresses listed, or if he continued mental health treatment.

“F*** whitey,” police records show Caril said after the stabbing. “Take me to jail, I am ready for my 50 years.”

In fall 1997, Caril was convicted of four robbery counts for convenience store holdups on four separate occasions. In 2002 he was convicted of robbing a convenience store employee with a knife. He spent several years in prison and was released in 2010.

In a 2016 court letter, a clinician from Sound Mental Health in Seattle wrote that Caril received mental health and medicine management services there since May 2010. He picked up prescribed medications and checked through Sound Mental Health on Tuesdays; the letter didn’t detail which medications Caril was taking.

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“He has recently shown increased motivation in working toward achieving his goals, and is most stable when he is able to maintain the aforementioned routine,” wrote clinician Olga Rublinetska, who assisted him with a Starbucks job application and also helped Caril with considering “what other types of employment may be suitable for him at this time.”

The following month, Caril pleaded guilty to assault and was ordered to undergo another mental health evaluation.

No certainty on housing before release

In the most recent domestic violence assault case, police were told Caril punched his roommate in the face at a house they shared in the 4700 block of 18th Avenue Northeast. An independent caretaker at the house also described Caril shoving the man “and she was fearful that he would be hurt more,” the police report reads.

Caril was arrested by police after he returned home about six hours later either high or drunk, according to the report. Police said Caril admitted punching the roommate in the face, claiming he was tired of being verbally harassed.

After the June 17 bail hearing and being released from jail, Caril was prohibited from staying at the house. He also was told to avoid drugs and alcohol, surrender any firearms and possess no weapons.

On advice of his attorney, Caril asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege for any pretrial testimony or statements regarding possession of firearms or dangerous weapons in that case. His previous felonies prevented him from owning a firearm.

His release is appropriate for mental health treatment, the judge said at Carils’ June 17 bail hearing.

In court documents after the stabbing arrest, Caril listed a relative’s house in the 12000 block of 56th Place South, but it’s not clear if he ever stayed there. His earlier defense attorney mentioned local family ties, but didn’t say Caril was expected to stay with them.

In his notice for a next court date, Caril listed his address as Sound Mental Health’s offices at 1600 E. Olive St. in Seattle. That facility has all outpatient services. Someone on the Municipal Court staff added a Post-it to the hearing document: “Please verify address.”

In the court hearing, Caril’s attorney didn’t say at which shelter he may stay. No one asked.

Andrew Dean Pimentel was with friends at Ozzie’s bar on lower Queen Anne the night of Thursday, June 22. They then made the three-block trip for burgers at Dick's, which for years has hired off-duty Seattle police officers for security on weekend nights.

Shortly after 2 a.m. on Friday morning Caril, who was across the street, seemed to be annoyed at the crowd at Dick’s outdoor seating and began throwing things at them. A 2-liter plastic bottled rolled near one of Pimentel’s friends who responded by telling Caril “That’s a good way to get your ass kicked.”

Caril came across yelling “I’ll show you a** kicked!” and stabbed Pimentel in the chest three times with a roughly 9-inch double-edged bowie knife, police said.

The 26-year-old took a few steps, then collapsed in the street.

A witness told police Caril made some kind of racist statement as he approached – something like “white bread” or “white boy.”

“Are you crazy?,” a witness yelled. “What are you doing?”

“Do you want to get stabbed too?,” Caril responded, according to court documents.

“After looking around at the crowd as if selecting his next victim, the defendant walked back across Queen Anne Avenue (North) to collect his belongings,” senior deputy prosecutor Adrienne T. McCoy wrote in charging documents. “The defendant then walked away, carrying his luggage. The police found the defendant in a nearby alley with his luggage. Inside was the bloody knife he used to kill Andrew.”

He was found in the alley west of the 300 block of Queen Anne Avenue North.

“F*** America, f*** white boys, f*** white people,” police said Caril told them. “Arrest me.”

He admitted to stabbing Pimentel in the chest with the knife police recovered, court records show. Caril is expected to have an arraignment where he’ll enter a plea next month.

“I’m ready to go to motherf****** jail,” police said him told them. “I’m ready to serve my 50 years.”

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