East Precinct officers with the help of an efficient K9 unit quickly tracked down an armed carjacking suspect after a chase from Melrose Ave to the area under I-5 below Lakeview Blvd early Wednesday morning.

According to SPD radio dispatches, the victim in the carjacking reported the black Honda CRV was taken by an armed male wearing a camouflage jacket and black beanie around 1:50 AM on Melrose just north of Pine.

UPDATE 11:00 AM: SPD has provided additional details on the carjacking:

At about 1:45 am Wednesday morning a suspect armed with a handgun approached the victim, who had just parked his Honda CRV in the 1600 block of Melrose Avenue, and demanded money.  The victim told the suspect that he didn’t have any and the suspect demanded the car.  The suspect then took off in the Honda.

Police rushed to the area and quickly found the car stopped on the shoulder of I-5 near the Lakeview exit. As police arrived, the carjacker fled and a brief car chase began as the vehicle headed south on Lakeview Blvd E. Arriving officers found the car again stopped in the 1500 block of Lakeview where the driver bailed and ran into the Colonnade area below the boulevard and under I-5.

A K9 unit was brought to the scene and tracked down the suspect in the leafy area below Lakeview in a matter of minutes. He had fled about 20 feet from the car, according to police.

A witness was brought to the scene and identified the man taken into custody as the suspect. We do not know if a gun was found at the scene.

UPDATE: SPD says the 19-year-old suspect admitted to the crime and “a very realistic-looking Airsoft pistol” was recovered. “The suspect also admitted to leaving a stolen vehicle from Des Moines parked near where he took the Honda,” the SPD report on the incident notes. “Officers were able to locate that stolen car and recovered it.”

The 19-year-old suspect was booked into the King County Jail for robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle, and possession of stolen property.