Everett man who stole SPD rifle during downtown Seattle protest sentenced to 16 months in prison

An Everett man was sentenced Friday to 16 months in prison for possession of a stolen rifle that was taken from a Seattle Police Department vehicle during a downtown protest in May 2020, U.S. Attorney Nick Brown’s office announced.

Jacob Little, 26, was captured on Seattle police surveillance on May 30, 2020, with a large bag used to store a Colt M4 rifle with a suppressor, according to court documents. The bag was taken from an SPD vehicle that was parked outside the downtown Nordstrom. Little later sold the gun online via social media.

“You didn’t care (who you sold it to) as long as you got paid. You sold it to someone with mental health issues,” the judge said at the sentencing.

The gun buyer buried the gun on his grandparents’ property in Snohomish County and later dug it up after threatening his girlfriend, officials said. Police were able to seize the gun before it could be used in a crime.

After the theft and sale of the gun, but before authorities identified Little in this case, he allegedly fired multiple shots when fights broke out at a car meet in the parking lot of an Uwajimaya grocery store on Aug. 30, 2020. According to documents, Little was seen firing into the air and into a crowd of people.

In January 2021, Little was charged with second-degree murder and assault, accused of killing a 25-year-old man and injuring a 15-year-old boy in the August 2020 shooting.

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