A registered sex offender with a history of burglary and sexual assault was arrested Tuesday after allegedly making death threats and behaving erratically inside a Trader Joe’s grocery store in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, according to the Seattle Police Department.
Officers responded around 2:15 p.m. on August 5 to the Trader Joe’s located near the 1700 block of 16th Avenue East.
Police said store security reported that a man had exposed himself and was using racial slurs before brandishing a knife and threatening to kill customers and employees.
According to the department’s initial statement, the incident began when the man—identified by authorities as 33-year-old Keelan Terrel Malone—was caught inappropriately grinding on a refrigerator inside the store.
Security personnel also told officers he had tried to do something similar to a customer.
When confronted by store staff, Malone reportedly became agitated.
He knocked over a flower display, began throwing apples, and then pulled out a knife while yelling that he was going to kill everyone inside the store.
Officers arrived quickly and arrested Malone without further incident.
He was booked into the King County Jail on suspicion of felony harassment.
Police also noted that Malone is a registered sex offender.
However, the case was not referred to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO), which handles felony-level charges.
Instead, the Seattle Police Department referred the case to the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, which handles misdemeanor offenses.
A spokesperson for the KCPAO confirmed that the referral decision was made by Seattle police—not prosecutors—and said it typically means officers believed there was only sufficient evidence for a misdemeanor, not a felony.
Prior criminal history
Court records show that Malone has a long history of criminal behavior in King County, including convictions for attempted rape and attempted residential burglary, as well as another more recent burglary charge that was later dismissed because of delays in mental health treatment.
In 2020, he was sentenced to serve 6.75 months in jail after pleading guilty to attempted rape in the third degree and attempted residential burglary in a 2018 case.
According to the charging documents, Malone broke into a woman’s home, climbed into bed with her, and fondled her while her infant slept nearby.
As part of the sentence, he was ordered to register as a sex offender and serve 24 months of community custody (supervised probation) upon release.
Then in September 2021, while still on probation, Malone was arrested again after allegedly breaking into an apartment at the Aegis of Queen Anne at Rodgers Park, a senior living facility.
According to police reports, Malone was found inside the room of a resident who had stepped outside for a cigarette.
When the woman returned, she discovered her phone, cash, and credit cards were missing.
She told officers she initially thought Malone was a staff member but realized something was wrong when she found her belongings scattered.
Multiple staff members confronted Malone as he tried to leave the building.
Witnesses said he returned some of the stolen items before running away.
Officers later arrested him nearby and recovered $31 in cash that could not be definitively tied to the victim.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Malone with residential burglary.
However, in early 2022, a state evaluator determined he was not competent to stand trial.
A judge ordered him to undergo inpatient competency restoration on January 26, 2022.
State law requires defendants in that situation to be transferred to a state hospital for treatment within seven to 14 days.
Malone remained in jail without treatment for 40 days, prompting his defense attorney to file a motion to dismiss the case.
The motion cited repeated delays by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), which has struggled for years to keep up with a backlog of defendants waiting for mental health treatment.
The court granted the motion on March 7, 2022, dismissing the felony burglary charge without prejudice due to a violation of Malone’s due process rights.
Mental health system under scrutiny
Malone’s case was one of many that fueled a lawsuit against DSHS by King County and nearly two dozen other counties.
The counties claimed that the state agency’s failure to provide timely mental health treatment was delaying justice and harming public safety.
In his motion to dismiss, Malone’s attorney argued that the prolonged incarceration without mental health services exacerbated his condition and violated both state and federal constitutional rights.
Legal experts say that when DSHS fails to admit a defendant for court-ordered treatment, courts often have little choice but to dismiss cases, even if the charges are serious.
Under state law, if a person cannot be restored to competency within a certain timeframe or cannot be admitted for treatment in a timely manner, courts may be required to drop the charges—at least temporarily.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Malone remained in custody at the King County Jail.
©2025 Cox Media Group
