11-07-2011, 04:09 PM
Mercury News
BELLEVUE, Wash.—Police in Washington state spent a second day Monday searching for a toddler whose mother said he vanished from an unlocked car that ran out of gas, as court documents revealed that the boy's parents had previously been cited for leaving a child unattended in a vehicle and his mother obtained a restraining order against his father last year.
The mother, Julia Biryukova, told investigators she left 2-year-old Sky Metalwala alone Sunday as she and her 4-year-old older daughter walked a mile to a gas station, Bellevue police said. When she came back an hour later, the boy was gone, she said.
Investigators searched a 20-block area and even went door to door but found no sign of him.
In December 2009, officers in nearby Redmond cited Biryukova and her husband, Solomon Metalwala, for reckless endangerment for leaving a child unattended in a vehicle. Details were not immediately available; police said they were working to redact an incident report for release under the state's public records act.
The case was dismissed early this year after the pair agreed to a year of probation, 40 hours of community service and a 10-week parenting class, said Ian Goodhew, a spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office.
The couple had been together for 14 years, married since 2003 and separated in March 2010, court records show. In June 2010, Biryukova, 30, filed for a protection order on behalf of herself and their two children, saying Solomon had a severe anger problem, was verbally abusive and that he had beat her for the first time the previous Christmas. The reason was that she had allowed Sky—just 4 months old at the time—to sleep later than expected, she said.
"He became furious like I have never seen him before, he grabbed me by my hair (in front of our 3 1⁄2 year old daughter), dragged me into our hallway, threw me down on the floor and then threw me against a decorative column we have in the entrance of our home," Biryukova wrote. "He continued to assault me with his feet—by kicking me and then he took out his car keys and contrived to scratch me in any area he could."
The abuse escalated after that, with Solomon telling her to go live on the street and work as a prostitute, she said.
"The most, most recent have been his threats to kill me if I say anything against him or if in any way I proceed with action of seeking custody of our two small children," Biryukova added. "I live in constant fear for my life and my children's life. Please investigate and help me!"
A man who answered the phone at King Street Kafe and Market, a shop Metalwala owns in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood, referred calls to a Leslie Clay Terry III, a lawyer who represented the couple in the reckless endangerment case. Terry did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Other possible phone numbers for Metalwala could not immediately be verified.
![[Image: 195318_100001482144252_8109013_n.jpg]](https://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/195318_100001482144252_8109013_n.jpg)
BELLEVUE, Wash.—Police in Washington state spent a second day Monday searching for a toddler whose mother said he vanished from an unlocked car that ran out of gas, as court documents revealed that the boy's parents had previously been cited for leaving a child unattended in a vehicle and his mother obtained a restraining order against his father last year.
The mother, Julia Biryukova, told investigators she left 2-year-old Sky Metalwala alone Sunday as she and her 4-year-old older daughter walked a mile to a gas station, Bellevue police said. When she came back an hour later, the boy was gone, she said.
Investigators searched a 20-block area and even went door to door but found no sign of him.
In December 2009, officers in nearby Redmond cited Biryukova and her husband, Solomon Metalwala, for reckless endangerment for leaving a child unattended in a vehicle. Details were not immediately available; police said they were working to redact an incident report for release under the state's public records act.
The case was dismissed early this year after the pair agreed to a year of probation, 40 hours of community service and a 10-week parenting class, said Ian Goodhew, a spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office.
The couple had been together for 14 years, married since 2003 and separated in March 2010, court records show. In June 2010, Biryukova, 30, filed for a protection order on behalf of herself and their two children, saying Solomon had a severe anger problem, was verbally abusive and that he had beat her for the first time the previous Christmas. The reason was that she had allowed Sky—just 4 months old at the time—to sleep later than expected, she said.
"He became furious like I have never seen him before, he grabbed me by my hair (in front of our 3 1⁄2 year old daughter), dragged me into our hallway, threw me down on the floor and then threw me against a decorative column we have in the entrance of our home," Biryukova wrote. "He continued to assault me with his feet—by kicking me and then he took out his car keys and contrived to scratch me in any area he could."
The abuse escalated after that, with Solomon telling her to go live on the street and work as a prostitute, she said.
"The most, most recent have been his threats to kill me if I say anything against him or if in any way I proceed with action of seeking custody of our two small children," Biryukova added. "I live in constant fear for my life and my children's life. Please investigate and help me!"
A man who answered the phone at King Street Kafe and Market, a shop Metalwala owns in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood, referred calls to a Leslie Clay Terry III, a lawyer who represented the couple in the reckless endangerment case. Terry did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Other possible phone numbers for Metalwala could not immediately be verified.