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Surveillance video shows attack on teen was planned, police say

CHEHALIS, Wash. — New surveillance video obtained tonight by KIRO 7 Eyewitness News shows an assault on a 16-year-old girl.

The attacker confessed in an interview with reporter Richard Thompson earlier this week, saying he decided to attack in an instant of bad judgment.

But police said the video shows that the attack was planned.

Police said the suspect in the case, Garret Larson, was initially parked as he watched the victim drive into the parking lot of the Chehalis Walmart Saturday.

“I didn’t really intend to do it but my hands acted just as fast as my mind did,” said Larson.

In a jailhouse interview, Larson told Thompson he didn't plan the attack.

“I didn’t think it out. I just thought I could grab her and get away with it,” said Larson.

But after viewing the surveillance video, police believe Larson was waiting for a victim.

After he watched the two teenage girls walk to the store, Larson pulled his vehicle into position behind the girl's truck, police said.

While viewing the video, an officer described what Larson did next.

“He actually started toward the vehicle, realized the timing was wrong and went back to his car,” said Randy Kraut with the Chehalis Police Department.

When the girls got closer, Larson moved toward them again, this time quickly grabbing the 16-year-old on the breast and buttocks before running away, the video showed.

The video then showed the girls running just as a police officer happened to pull into the lot.

Larson was captured a short time later.   Police said the video showed his actions were not just a split-second impulse.

“He determined he was going to commit this crime, and he was going through the steps and it was not a momentary thing,” said Kraut.

The victim’s father said his daughter is still very upset about the attack and he is making arrangements for her to see a counselor.