Seattle police searched the areas beneath the Pine Street overpass of I-5 Tuesday afternoon for the suspect in Saturday’s stabbing and attempted robbery near the Pillars dog park near Pine and Boren.
Around 1:30 PM, officers were dispatched to the area to look for the suspect who was described as a Native American or Hispanic male in his 20s, 5’6″ tall and 180 lbs. Officers were directed to search “camps” in the area within the fenced-off areas above I-5 under the overpasses.
The search of the area lasted about 30 minutes but the suspect was not located. CHS has learned the name of the suspect police may be looking for but the man does not have a criminal record and police have not yet publicly identified him as a suspect.
In the Saturday night attack, a male victim sustained non-life threatening injuries when a man stabbed him in the chest around 8 PM after asking the victim for money.
Why is the City not clearing out these homeless camps? They are havens for illegal drug use, alcoholism, extreme littering (including urine and feces), and other crimes. My understanding is that the City’s policy is to give a 3-day notice, at the same time activating human services personnel to help get the “residents” into shelter, then cleaning up the camps (and storing any obviously needed possessions for re-claiming). This is a compassionate policy which helps both the neighborhood where the camps are, and the homeless individuals themselves. Why is this not happening?
It costs money and that’s in short supply these days. The city is too busy spending money on road diets and unwanted tunnels.
That particular overpass is pretty crazy. I don’t know how many people stay under it at any given time but there’s been many times walking down Pine in the morning where one or more person is climbing over the pushed-down fence there. They look like zombies.