A young woman made two harrowing attempts to escape her vicious pimp — including jumping from a third-story window — before being rescued by a driver who was involved in an argument with the man, Seattle prosecutors said. Winston Burt, 30, who goes by the street name “Dice Capone,” was arrested a short time later as he was leaving a rental home with other women he had trafficked, authorities said. The 20-year-old woman who escaped had been flown from California to Seattle to perform sex acts for money, prosecutors said in charging documents in King County Superior Court. She first tried to escape Burt by jumping almost naked from a high window, they said. She finally made it after running from his car and sitting topless on a freeway until the ride-share driver helped her. The woman, identified only by her initials, A.A., was taken to hospital with injuries including black eyes, broken ribs, a broken leg and spinal injuries. Burt was held on $750,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Details of the case were first reported by the Seattle Times. His street name was tattooed on the faces of at least two of the women he trafficked as a kind of branding, authorities said. “The defendant runs a sex trafficking operation that operates in at least three US states with multiple victims who have been exploited, harmed and maimed by the defendant’s violent and coercive actions,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Benjamin Gauen wrote in charging documents. According to investigators, Burt, HA and two other young women arrived in Seattle about a month ago. They stayed in a US$1.4 million six-bedroom house near Seward Park in South Seattle that was rented out through Airbnb. Burt drove the women to a section of Aurora Avenue in North Seattle where prostitution is common and arranged for them to have motel rooms for their “dates,” charging documents said. Each woman was expected to earn at least $2,000 a day. they handed over all the money, and he provided food, clothing and shelter and completely controlled them, charging documents said. HA told police she had been “working” for Burt for about four months in California and Arizona, as well as Seattle, according to documents. It wasn’t until the past few weeks, after she and another woman said they wanted to quit prostitution and move back home, that he started beating her, she said. He attacked the other woman, identified as ST, at the rental home, kicking and pistol-whipping her until she was blindfolded, prosecutors said, and forced the other women to join in the attack. On Nov. 2, he similarly pistol-whipped HA after she said she wanted to leave, prosecutors said. Her lip was opened so wide that it appeared to be hanging off her face, she told police. For three days afterward, she was stuck in the rental home, prosecutors said, without a phone, money or anywhere to go. Her face was swollen and she was suffering from severe pain in her ribs. On Saturday night, Burt began beating her again and ordered her to remove the clothes he had given her, Gowen wrote. Wearing only her underwear, she tried to escape through the front door, but Burt grabbed her and knocked her to the ground, she wrote. Fearing that she would be killed, she ran upstairs with Burt chasing her, then jumped out of the third floor window. He landed on the ground, entered the street and flagged down a car with two women inside. As he spoke to them, the other young women came outside, saying that HA was “off her meds, that she was having an episode and that she was going to be OK,” Seattle police Detective Tammie Case wrote in an incident report. The others pushed HA into Burt’s white Mercedes, telling the women who had stopped to help her that they were taking her to a hospital. Instead, Burt drove them to the Emerald Motel on Aurora Avenue, where they had previously trafficked, charging documents said. Burt sent the others to the motel while HA, still wearing only her underwear, remained in the vehicle with him. He told her he would let her go, but that he would pull out her teeth first, the prosecutor wrote. He got out of the car and crossed a six-lane highway, trying to find help. Multiple drivers called 911, but no one stopped. To avoid being forced back into Bert’s car, he sat on the highway. “HA felt safer in the middle of a busy freeway, nearly naked, at night than being within arm’s reach of the defendant,” Gauen wrote. “Surveillance video from a nearby business corroborated HA’s account of what happened.” The ride-share driver stopped and told HA to get into his van. Burt gave chase, shooting at the van, Gowen wrote. The ride-share driver was also armed and fired several blocks until he got onto Interstate 5 and met police at a gas station. No one appeared to have been hit by the bullets, but the van’s windshield was riddled with holes. Police arrested Burt as he was leaving the rental home with the other women, the documents state. She faces charges that include human trafficking, promoting prostitution, assault and a drive-by shooting, but given the “extensive scope of the defendant’s abhorrent conduct,” additional charges are possible, Gowen wrote. Prosecutors are also concerned about tampering with cases. A woman who continues to work for Burt has already contacted HA in an attempt to learn her location and get her to return, Gauen wrote.
Resources for Sexual Assault Survivors in Canada
If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis: If you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety, you should call 911. A complete list of sexual assault centers in Canada that offer information, support and counseling can be found at ReeseCommunity.com. You can find resources in your community by entering your zip code. Helplines, legal services and locations offering sexual assault kits in Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia can be found here. National Residential School Crisis Line: +1 866 925 4419 24 hour crisis line: 416 597 8808 Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: +1 833 900 1010 Trans Lifeline: +1 877 330 6366 Sexual misconduct support for current or former members of the Armed Forces: +1 844 750 1648 Read about your rights as a victim here.
