A suspected camera thief was chased down Sunday afternoon within minutes of a 911 call reporting that a man had entered a private party at a gallery in the 700 block of E Pike, grabbed a camera and fled with the device’s owner giving chase. Details on the SPD arrest below. No word on how officers tracked down the man some five blocks away from the scene of the crime — assuming the woman giving chase was able to keep up — but we’ll ask for more information. For those of you who are saying, “Wow, there are still galleries on E Pike,” the description of the venue sounds like The Pun(c)tuated Life (punctuatedlife.com) at 705.

On June 5th at approximately 2:50 p.m. officers responded to a report of a strong arm robbery in the 700 block of East Pike Street.  Preliminary investigation indicates that the 52-year-old male suspect entered a private party at an art gallery in the 700 block of East Pike Street.  The suspect stole a camera that was sitting on a table and fled on foot.  The victim (a female in her 20′s and the owner of the camera) gave chase while others present called 911. 

Responding officers caught the suspect near Boren Avenue and Union Street within three minutes of receiving the 911 call. 

The suspect was positively identified by the victim and witnesses.  Investigating officers recovered the victim’s camera from the suspect and returned it to the victim. 

The suspect was placed under arrest and will be booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary.