CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: Gatewood kidnap suspect Cristien X. Bugge-Marcum charged

That’s a screenshot from the charging documents we just received from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which announced that the suspect in Saturday’s Gatewood kidnap attempt, 22-year-old Cristien X. Bugge-Marcum, is now charged:

This afternoon, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged a 22-year-old Seattle man with Attempted Kidnapping in the Second Degree following a West Seattle incident. The defendant remains in jail on the $750,000 bail set by a judge.

The defendant’s next court date is his arraignment, where an initial plea is entered. That’s scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, May 4, in courtroom 1201 of the King County Courthouse. Defendants are innocent until proven guilty in court.

We’ll add narrative from the charging document shortly.

4:09 PM: Here’s the narrative, with redactions. It says Bugge-Marcum is originally from Sequim-Port Angeles, with a recent address in Northgate, but was in Gatewood last weekend staying with friends close to where this happened:

The juvenile victim is identified as (victim). The juvenile witness is identified as (witness). The following information is from the victim, witnesses, and from Cristien X. Bugge-Marcum.

On 4/25/2026 at approximately 1359 hours, officers were dispatched to (xxx) SW Othello St to investigate a report of an attempted kidnapping. The call notes read as follows:
“GROUP OF NEIGHBORHOOD CHILDREN PLAYING IN RP’S YARD, AND 8 YO FEMALE JUST TOLD RP A MALE SUSP TRIED TO GRAB HER ARM AND TAKE HER. SUSP LOCATION UNKNOWN.” (Third person) is the owner of the (XXX) SW Othello St residential home. He called 9-1-1. (Fourth person) lives at (another address on) SW Othello st. Her daughter is (friend, who) was at the neighbor’s house playing with other neighborhood kids. At 1343 hours, (xx) told (XX) to return home for lunch.

She got this precise time by checking her doorbell camera which captured when she exited her front door. After going back into her home, she heard her dogs barking at someone walking eastbound past her house and on the south sidewalk. She looked outside and observed a white male carrying a skateboard walking past her house.

(Fifth person) lives at (XXX) SW Othello Way which is three houses east of the scene. (He) showed officers his surveillance footage. In the video, dogs are heard barking at 1:47:02 PM, a shrill scream is heard at 1:47:08 PM, a noise similar to skateboard wheels on a hard surface is heard at 1:47:29 PM, an object crashing on the ground is heard at 1:47:34 PM, a voice is heard yelling something unintelligible at 1:47:39 PM, a male enters the frame on the camera at 1:47:42 PM and is walking eastbound on the south sidewalk. The unknown male continued walking eastbound down the sidewalk and out of frame. In the footage, the only person observed was a white male with short hair wearing a white t-shirt, dark colored backpack, a skateboard in his left hand, black and white shoes, jean shorts that either sagged down near his ankles or were just long jean shorts.

(Victim) is eight years old and lives at (XXX) 36th Ave SW. On 4/25/26 she was playing with friends outside of (XXX) SW Othello st. At one point, she was outside alone and seated on a tree stump. The tree stump is about 35-40 feet away from the sidewalk and near the front of the house. She was looking into the open door of the home while waiting for her friend … to finish playing a game inside and join her outside.

During (victim)’s Child Forensic Interview (CFI) on 4/28/26, she stated the following:

While she was outside, a “guy” walked by with a skateboard and a backpack. She believed he was
wearing a black sweatshirt, but she thought nothing of it. She stated that 5 minutes later, that same
person grabbed her arm and tried to drag her away. (victim) stated that she screamed. When (Friend) came
to door after she heard her scream, the suspect ran behind the house and ran away.

(victim) stated that she could not see the suspect’s hair and could not see if it was a male or a female but saw their blue/green eyes.

(victim) said that she could feel the suspect squeezing her arm and felt pressure. She saw the suspect’s skateboard and backpack on the ground when he was trying to drag her away. The suspect did not saying anything to her.

(victim) stated she was so scared her teeth were chattering and thought that she could have been killed. (friend) is 9-years old. (She) was inside the home when she heard (victim) scream. She looked outside and observed the unknown male pulling (victim) away. She described the male pulling (victim) with one hand while holding a knife in his other hand. (Friend) went inside and told another child what was happening who then relayed to an adult what was happening. When (friend) went back outside the unknown male was no longer in front of the home. She observed (victim) crying near the house.

Friend demonstrated the male pulling (victim) about 5-6 feet and away from the home.

On (Sunday) at approximately 1249 hours Bugge-Marcum was observed in the area of 36 Ave SW/SW Orchard St by officers. He matched the description of the surveillance footage seen by officers. Bugge-Marcum was contacted and taken into custody. He was transported to SPD Headquarters.

Bugge-Marcum was read his Miranda Rights and stated in a recorded interview that he has been living at the accessory dwelling unit at (XXX) SW Othello St for approximately one week with his friends … who he is in a “situationship” with. He is originally from Sequim/Port Angeles area.

Bugge-Marcum stated that on 4/25/26 he slept in and stayed …’s residence until approximately 1300 hours. He left to assist his mother with groceries and arrived at his parent’s house at approximately 1400 hours. He went shopping in Northgate at approximately 1600 hours. He returned to his parents’ house at approximately 1700 hours. He took a nap and left his parents’ house at approximately 2000 hours. He stated that he did not return to West Seattle until 0100
hours on 4/26/26.

Bugge-Marcum stated that on 4/25/26 he was wearing jorts, a green zip up or a white Adidas zip up, a white t-shirt, and black and white sneakers, he was carrying a blue backpack and his skateboard. He had his cell phone on him and stated it was an android. Bugge-Marcum stated that the people in the neighborhood are uptight. He said he got in trouble
for smoking in the neighborhood and as a result, he walks eastbound on Othello St from …’s residence and then northbound on 36th Ave SW to the water towers to smoke. He thinks the neighbors might have pinned whatever happened on him.

Bugge-Marcum provided an outline of his route on 4/25/26. He walked eastbound from ….’s to 36th Ave SW, then southbound to SW Webster St, then northbound on 35th Ave SW to the bus stop on the east side of 35th Ave SW. He stated that he did not see a single person when he was walking on SW Othello St. He said he went straight to the bus stop.
Bugge-Marcum denied touching anyone and said nothing out of the ordinary happened.

The updated police report included with the charging document says his “last known address” is in the Northgate area. The charging papers also confirm what we had noted in research, that he “no known WA criminal history.”

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