TACOMA — A 34-year-old man has been sentenced to life without parole for a robbery involving hostages at a used car dealership in Parkland.
Jurors found Randy Smith guilty last week in Pierce County Superior Court of robbery, attempted robbery, kidnapping, six counts of assault and two counts of unlawful gun possession related to a 2018 incident, The News Tribune reported. The verdict was Smith’s third strike under the state’s three-strikes law, meaning a life sentence was mandatory.
Deputy prosecutor Kawyne Lund told the court Tuesday it didn’t give the state pleasure to recommend life without parole, adding that Smith had put others at “grave risk.”
Defense attorney Mark Quigley also expressed that sentiment, noted Smith’s difficult upbringing and said Smith went to prison as a young man and had been involved with the juvenile justice system.
“In some respects, Mr. Smith never really had a chance,” Quigley said.
Should the state’s three-strikes law be reconsidered by the Legislature in the future, Quigley said, he’d like to think his client could “be given some hope” at release one day.
Smith apologized to the court and said he believes missing surveillance footage “could have changed aspects of this trial.”
Judge Jack Nevin said it gave him “no satisfaction” to impose the sentence.
On Sept. 6, 2018, Smith carried a bag with a rifle, handgun and ammunition as he tried to steal vehicles from businesses, according to charging papers. People at the first business fled.
At the next business, the declaration for determination of probable cause said Smith demanded a car with gas, pointing a handgun at four individuals saying “he would kill them if they didn’t cooperate.”
Some victims fled, but Smith held one hostage for a time who eventually also fled, documents said. As sheriff’s deputies approached the business, shots were fired through the front and through the ceiling.
“Later the defendant, who had on body armor, was shot by deputies,” the probable cause statement said.
Some of Smith’s prior convictions include robbery while armed with knives, court records show, and he had most recently been released from prison about six months before the Parkland incident.
