For nearly 20 years, Robert Washington has owned and managed his South Seattle car wash and detailing business, Auto Fitness. For the last four or five years, Washington says his business has been targeted by the Seattle Police Department and he and his employees have been subject to harassment and intimidation. This year, he'd had enough. Washington retained an attorney, Howard Phillips, who fired off a June 6 letter to Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, asking the chief to reel in his officers, who Washington says were conducting illegal searches, giving frivolous citations to his employees, and interrupting business. Phillips admonished the police department for singling out Washington's business as "a fertile, but not necessarily legal, ground to seek out criminal activity and capture criminals" and for "invad[ing Washington's] business without reasonable and articulable probable cause."
Robert Washington—a thin man, who walks with a limp as his left leg and arm haven't been fully functional since he had a stroke in 2004—sits in a small wood-paneled office, his cluttered desk piled with papers, crammed in next to a television and a blood-pressure monitor. He says that instead of backing off, the police have retaliated against him. Two weeks ago, Washington says 10 officers stormed Auto Fitness, raiding his business, trashing his office, and removing video surveillance equipment from the premises, which, he claims, had captured the repeated harassment. Officers then lined employees and patrons up against a wall while they searched the property for drugs. Washington was arrested and taken to jail, only to be released two days later without charges.
In the last few months, the Seattle Police Department and Chief Kerlikowske have come under fire for a lack of accountability. The testicle-grabbing beatdown of Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes and four-time Tasering of Carl Sandidge, both in 2005, as well as George Patterson's controversial drug arrest last January have led to a series of internal investigations at SPD, and closer examination of the chief's role in the police oversight process. Because the officers were cleared of major misconduct in all three cases, there's a new sensitivity about police accountability, which has provided momentum for others to come forward with their own stories of perceived police misconduct. Washington believes he and his employees are the victims of racial profiling. While Washington claims SPD is attempting to force a black-owned business out of the area, the police and neighborhood groups have a different take on things.
Leslie Miller—the president of the Southeast District Council—lives near Auto Fitness. Miller decries Washington's claims as reverse racism. "It's not because they're felons and it's certainly not because they're black; it's because they're dealing," she says.
Auto Fitness's worn, wood-paneled exterior has been a mainstay on Rainier Avenue South for the last 20 years. Washington started the business with his mother, Ruth Washington, and he says his shop used to draw customers from all over Seattle's diverse South End. Now, while new condos and townhomes—which have sprouted up along Rainier Avenue South in anticipation of the light-rail line—have drawn residents to the area, Washington says business has slumped. He points to repeated visits from the police as the cause. "Five or six years ago, we were doing phenomenal business. Now, we're doing less than 25 percent of what it used to be." Washington says police have been known to pull onto the lot three or four times a week, disrupting business and frightening off customers. Washington thinks it's because he employs ex-felons.
"[The police] just come here because they know I give them jobs," he says. Washington sees his business as an opportunity for people to get a new start. Six of Washington's twelve employees have criminal records, including his longtime friend Herman Leroy Hudson, whom Washington has known since they attended the 10th grade together at Queen Anne High School. Hudson, who has worked on and off at Auto Fitness and its attached restaurant, Grubz, says Washington has given him a chance to start over.
"I used to use drugs, so they use that as a reason to harass me," Hudson says. "[The police] don't believe a person can change. I've been clean for a year. They're trying to keep me from doing something better with my life. I'm a five-time convicted felon. There aren't a lot of places I can get a job. I'm 51; I'm not as young as I used to be and I'm not very employable."
Indeed, giving a friend and ex-felons a second lease on life is admirable, but Washington's big heart may be causing him to look the other way, which may not be the best way to run a business.
Neighbors say Washington isn't running a clean business. The Southeast District Council's Miller says, "They're absolutely dealing drugs out of there. They've made allegations that we're targeting them because they're a black-owned business, which I find incredibly offensive. We've tried to talk to [Ruth] Washington. People are just really frustrated. If they would just wash cars, they could stay as long as they like."
Officer Michael Alphin, of the South Precinct's Community Police Team, also dismisses Washington's claims of harassment. Alphin says that drugs, drinking, and prostitution are all present on the Auto Fitness property and SPD is just trying to help Washington. "We're just going in and doing our job. I think Robert is kind of naive. I think he knows some stuff is going on but he's trying to help people out. People are taking advantage of him. We're going to keep investigating when complaints come in from neighbors. "
Washington is weary from frequent visits by the police department, but he says he plans to stick it out. "I don't feel as though I have done anything," he says of all the accusations. "Just working." 
