Former NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp avoided jail time but faces electronic monitoring and community supervision after pleading guilty to shooting at suspected thieves in a Tacoma mall car park, highlighting tensions between property crime enforcement and vigilante justice in the Seattle region.
On Tuesday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Schwartz sentenced the 55-year-old former Seattle SuperSonics star to 30 days of electronic home monitoring, followed by a year of court supervision and community service. Prosecutors had sought nine months in jail following Kemp’s earlier guilty plea to second-degree assault.
The sentence caps a case that underscores growing frustrations with property crime in the Seattle area whilst raising questions about when citizens should or shouldn’t take matters into their own hands. The chain of events began at a business celebration in Seattle’s SODO neighbourhood, where Kemp was entertaining employees of his cannabis retail operation. According to court documents, Dajuan Jackson and Joshua Puente, driving a stolen Toyota 4Runner, broke into vehicles outside the venue, targeting Kemp’s truck.
The pair stole items including a purse belonging to one of Kemp’s employees, business keys, a mobile phone, and memorabilia destined for charity auction, including game-worn jerseys from Kemp and former NBA player Gary Payton. What followed reveals both the limitations of traditional law enforcement and the dangers of self-help justice. Defence attorney Timothy Leary argued in pre-sentence filings that Kemp, knowing “Seattle police resources [were] stretched thin in 2023,” understood that “calling 911 was not going to elicit a response to a car prowl.”
Instead, Kemp used a phone-tracking app to locate the stolen device, first confronting the suspects at a casino car park, then following the signal to Tacoma Mall. Here, the narratives diverge sharply. Kemp’s defence maintains that Jackson or Puente fired first from inside their vehicle, prompting Kemp to return fire with four rounds from a .357 magnum revolver. State prosecutors, however, found no evidence the theft suspects discharged any weapon, arguing Kemp’s claim of self-defence was unfounded.
Judge Schwartz’s comments suggest scepticism about the self-defence claim whilst acknowledging the complexity of the situation. “I cannot state strongly enough that this could have been easily avoided by simply walking away,” he said. “Property is replaceable, human life is not.”
The case presents a stark contrast in backgrounds. Jackson and Puente, according to defence filings, carry “no less than 49 and 24 criminal convictions” respectively across Puget Sound jurisdictions, with Jackson describing their motivation as simple: “they were out of funds, so they turned to vehicle prowling for money.” Kemp, by contrast, had maintained a clean record for 55 years until this incident. “This is the first time I’ve ever been in trouble,” he told reporters after sentencing. “I’m frustrated with myself because I believe I could have made a better decision.”
The incident illuminates ongoing tensions around property crime enforcement in Seattle. Leary’s argument that calling police would have been futile reflects widespread perceptions about police responsiveness to non-violent property crimes, perceptions that, whether accurate or not, influence citizen behaviour. Jackson himself, currently serving time in a Washington prison, acknowledged the shooting’s impact in a letter to the court: “I prayed for the angels to come and take me into heaven as well as the protection of my young children.”
The conviction carries significant implications beyond the immediate sentence. As a convicted felon, Kemp faces potential complications with his cannabis retail licences, though state regulators may permit him to continue operations. His attorney, W. Scott Boatman, emphasised that the court recognised Kemp’s actions as “a failed attempt of self defence” whilst noting Kemp’s commitment to working with young people “to help them understand the potential consequences of not thinking twice or acting impulsively.”
This case raises uncomfortable questions about the balance between property rights, public safety, and individual justice in communities where residents perceive law enforcement as stretched thin or unresponsive. Whilst Judge Schwartz’s sentence acknowledges mitigating factors such as Kemp’s clean record, community standing, and arguably genuine belief he was defending himself, it also sends a clear message about the dangers of vigilantism.
The irony is stark. In attempting to recover stolen property through self-help rather than official channels, Kemp transformed himself from victim to defendant, trading a clean 55-year record for a felony conviction. For Seattle-area residents frustrated with property crime, Kemp’s case serves as both validation of their concerns and a cautionary tale about the risks of taking justice into their own hands. The line between righteous anger and criminal conduct, as Kemp discovered, can be thinner than it appears, and the consequences far more lasting than the value of any stolen phone.
Shawn Kemp played 14 NBA seasons, spending more than half with the Seattle SuperSonics and leading the team to the 1995-96 NBA Finals. He opened his first cannabis retail location in Seattle’s Belltown neighbourhood in 2020, followed by a second SODO location in 2023.
