Nam Viet Nguyen, the third suspect in the fatal June 6 shooting in Belltown that took the life of Steve Sok has been arrested in Auburn. According to court documents, Nguyen was the person who handed the gun to Felix Sitthivong (“Phi”) while they were riding in a car. Sitthivong then exited the car, started arguing with two men near V-Bar and fired at them. Sok was killed and Phillip Thomas, 44, was injured.
Nguyen had escaped to California with Sitthivong and a third suspect Jason Lee, who allegedly helped hide the gun and aided in their escape. Sitthivong and Lee were arrested in Long Beach, Calif., but Nguyen apparently made his way back up to the region before his arrest.
S.T. has the story:
Nguyen, who wasn’t with the other suspects when they were arrested in Long Beach, made his own way back to the Puget Sound region, said police spokeswoman Renee Witt. He was charged with rendering criminal assistance and intimidating a witness and a $500,000 warrant was issued for his arrest, Witt said.
Crediting “good, old-fashioned police work,” Witt said the lead homicide detective on the case learned Nguyen was back in the area and arrested him in Auburn on Monday. Nguyen was booked into the King County Jail and is being held on $500,000 bail.
