Kirkland man ‘banned' from downtown Bellevue, faces jail time

KIRKLAND, Wash. — Twenty-four-year-old Max Purpus Madrid's troubles started last November when he got so intoxicated while celebrating with friends in a room they booked at the Hyatt Hotel, that he was asked to leave.

"I remember coming up and seeing the security guards and the police," said Madrid. "And from then, I don't remember much."

He says he also doesn't remember signing a notice of trespass.

"I thought I was just eighty-sixed from the Hyatt," Madrid said. "Not from anywhere else in Bellevue."

But a month later, he was across the street at Paddy Coyne's, and a security guard called Bellevue police.

"I asked him, 'How can I help you?'” said Madrid. "And he told me that I was trespassing."

Turns out the trespass notice he signed banned him from four downtown Bellevue properties owned by Kemper Development Company, including a building under construction and Bellevue Square, where he works.

"They said I can't go anywhere else in Bellevue," Madrid said. "I could only go to and from work."

Now Bellevue's City Attorney has charged him with first degree criminal trespass.

His attorney contends that Kemper is violating Madrid's constitutional and civil rights.

"This isn't one bar or one restaurant or one hotel," insisted Bellevue lawyer John Tymczyszyn. "This isn't five or 10. This is 100s of shops. This is 100s of restaurants. This is hotels. This is condos. This is apartments.

"They simply check a box," he said, pointing to the trespass notice. "And when they check these four boxes, that apparently means the person can't return to the downtown location."

Madrid has been charged with a gross misdemeanor. If convicted he could spend a year in jail.

A Bellevue spokeswoman says a private company has a legal right to bar anyone from its property as long as the person receives "proper notice."

Kemper spokeswoman Jennifer Leavitt sent an email with a long list of rules of conduct designed, she said, to keep everyone safe.

Anyone who gets a trespass notice, she added, can appeal.

Neither would discuss Madrid's case since it is now in the courts.

KIRO