SEATTLE — Two brothers facing federal charges for tossing Molotov cocktails at a Shoreline coffee shop entered not guilty pleas Thursday to unlawful possession of a destructive device, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle.
Taylor Lemay Rice, 23, and Daniel Lemay Rice, 21, turned themselves in after being identified through video-surveillance footage and cellphone records during a joint investigation by the King County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to a news release. The brothers were released on personal appearance bonds.
Federal prosecutors have indicated the apparent motive for the Sept. 30, 2020, firebombing at the coffee shop, which shares a building with the Bethany Community Church, was in response to one of the brother’s cars being towed from the parking lot a couple months earlier, the release says.
The Molotov cocktails blackened the coffee shop’s exterior but didn’t cause extensive damage.
The coffee shop, in the 16700 block of Aurora Avenue North, was the former location of One Cup Coffee, and the firebombing delayed the opening of Black Coffee Northwest, which now occupies the space, The Seattle Times reported at the time.
