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Tourist says dangled from building in rooftop party robbery

The front clerk at SPD’s East Precinct at the corner of 12th and Pine hears some crazy stories but the report that started at 7 AM on the morning of Thursday, August 9th when a Canadian tourist walked into the lobby lost, exhausted, and carrying a dead phone with a tale of being dangled “10-14 stories” above the ground and robbed by armed men at a rooftop party is probably weirder than most.

According to the report on the incident, the tourist arrived seeking help from police to contact his friend at a nearby hotel after losing track of him during the night. The man told the officer it had been a long evening — he had just had a gun pulled on him.

Asked for more information on the incident, the Canadian said he and his friend had attended a concert the night before near the stadiums where they met two women and, eventually, another man who identified himself as a bouncer at the venue. At closing time, the group met up again at a Fremont Ave N hotel where the women suddenly split. The bouncer then invited the two men to a rooftop party in the “Capitol Hill/downtown” area.

The Canadian’s friend was too intoxicated and stayed behind but the victim told police he was game and accompanied his new bouncer friend “to a highrise apartment just off of Union St possibly near Interstate 5.” “The area appeared sketchy so asked (if) was he ok to be there,” the report notes. The victim told police his new acquaintance “lifted up the front of his shirt and displayed what appeared to be a GLOCK pistol.”

“You’re with me, you’re good,” the new friend reportedly said.

They entered the building and made their way to the roof where they found a group of males. The tourist told police the males “were all in the music industry and were exchanging contact information” and one “claimed to be a concert promoter looking to work together in Canada/Seattle.” The pleasantries soon ended around 4 AM, however.

“Don’t mess with me,” one of the males on the roof said, lifting his shirt to show a handgun. “Give us money or you are going off the rooftop.”

The tourist told police the suspects then pushed him to the end of the roof “and held him dangling over the top” approximately “10-14 stories to the ground.”

According to the report, the victim told the group he wasn’t carrying any cash. “They told him to figure it out or else,” police write. The suspects allowed the victim to call a friend in Vancouver to help sort the situation out. A bargain was struck. The victim’s friend would arrange a “wire transfer” through Paypal. With the transaction completed, the victim was allowed to leave the roof. He told police he walked “several blocks away” and called his friend to cancel the transfer.

The victim told police he then walked for hours through the night looking for help. He ended up on Capitol Hill and, eventually, in the lobby of the East Precinct where he made his report.

Police say say they were able to identify one of the suspects and that the $119.99 Paypal payment was made to an account that included part of the suspect’s date of birth. The suspect has a prior conviction for robbery, the report notes. We’re checking with SPD on any arrests related to the incident.

The victims, meanwhile, were planning to return to Canada.

 

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JerSeattle
JerSeattle
5 years ago

Guess that guy learned his lesson. Lucky to be alive. Thank god.