Seattle Police said they had one person in custody after a helicopter and K9 search along Harvard Ave E Tuesday night.
According to East Precinct radio updates, the search for the graffiti suspect began just before 7:30 PM near Harvard and Thomas. CHS does not have information on what led to the report and the pursuit but police reported the suspect was “known to be armed” during the search.
King County Sheriff’s Guardian One helicopter was already deployed and able to assist in the search after traveling to the area as a K9 unit and police searched on the ground.
The suspect was reported in custody around 8 PM.
A black backpack reportedly containing spray cans was recovered near the scene.
We’ll follow up with SPD to find out more about the chase and if a weapon was recovered.
UPDATE: And SPD brief says the incident began in the 300 block of Broadway E around 7 PM after a report of a man with a gun pointing it people “near the QFC.”
Officers arrived and found the suspect who fled from them. Officers engaged in a 3-block foot pursuit and set up containment. K-9 and Guardian One were utilized. The suspect was apprehended in the containment area.
“The suspect did not have a gun on him and an area check for the handgun did not locate it,” according to the SPD brief. The suspect was booked on obstruction and drug charges.
We’ve asked SPD for the full report on the incident and information about spray cans reportedly recovered during the pursuit.
UPDATE x2: According to SPD’s arrest report, the suspect claimed the reported gun was actually a torch lighter.
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Helicopter? Why not use drones? Less conspicuous, quieter, quicker to deploy, cheaper, can record evidence, better suited for element-of-surprise, send up multiple ones to cover more area, etc…
Perhaps. I think it’d be possible if they were military grade drone places equipped with night time and thermal cameras.
Why are they using a helicopter to chase a graffiti artist when the story above this one is about two carjackers who stabbed someone? Maybe they should use the helicopter to chase them instead? lol.
Great question…
They also established a perimeter blockade (cruiser positioned at boylston and E Thomas) and were blaring a PA warning about K9 being on the search and residents need to stay indoors and report any suspicious activity.
Given the lack of firearms reports leading up to this, I assumed a stabbing on Broadway or something. Honestly, it kind of blows my mind that a stabbing actually happened and the response was not for that, it was for a tagger who didn’t want to get caught at most?
I guess you didn’t read the part where they said he was known to be armed.
Well there was no gun so I guess you didn’t know cops are trying to make graffiti look like a criminal problem instead of a civil violation with a fine attached, so they are scaring idiots like you into spreading lies
There is no daylight between what SPD says and what these people think. Entirely credulous and never revisit being wrongly credulous no matter how many times it happens.
I think the term graffiti vandal would be more appropriate because most of the graffiti out there is not art.
Most is the equivalent of peeing on a post
Because they rarely get to fly. So they make excuses.
Tbh I find that way more disconcerting, as a resident of an apartment building. Two separate times in the past couple of years I’ve heard something weird outside only to look out the window and see a drone hovering RIGHT THERE. SO creepy. I’m on a 6th floor but have tried to be more careful about my blinds since.
I have lived near Broadway & Thomas for 45 years. With the recent shooting at Broadway/Harrison, and now this, it’s the first time I have felt unsafe in my immediate neighborhood. Sad state of affairs.
Zach, earnest question if you can believe it, but would a more muted police response without PAs or helicopter have avoided putting you on pins and needles? I ask because given the alleged cause for the search, a graffiti artist who didn’t want to get nabbed, it seems like SPD can frighten you on a whim based on their response, ordinate or not, measured or not.
So…Let’s recap…
45 years vs. two rent incidents = Chicken Little Syndrome
“Known to be armed” is such BS. The police are known constant liars. SHOW PROOF before making spurious claims such as this. It could be true, because we’re up to our eyes with guns (i guess ignore that problem though), but it’s far more likely that this is SPD trying to manufacture consent for wasting absolute stacks of our tax dollars on heavy-handed pursuits and ‘tacti-cool’ gear, in addition to indulging in the sick thrill that they get out of invading our neighborhood privacy (AS USUAL). And, all in an effort to make people give a single shit about graffiti. YAWN. TIRED of this fascist nonsense. End the austerity budget and tax the wealthy if you want to solve this city’s problems. I will never stop repeating this. Conservatives (aka 90% of police) live solely on fear and can’t imagine anyone not living their life based on it being the spiritual driver behind every major life event they experience, and when a situation arises that can’t be milked for a fear-based reaction from the public, Police try to create the wackiest narratives that purposely circumvent the root of a problem while sociopathically enriching themselves and their private contractor buddies in the military industrial complex at every turn. Sounds familiar on a local level to me. Digital ad kiosks stealing sidewalk space? CCTV no one voted for?? SPD kitted out like the Israeli Occupying Force after being trained by them??? Your privacy is under attack, and meanwhile the police are always watching for ways to escalate fear to their advantage. Remember, a classic hallmark of fascism is the merging of state and corporate power in opposition to the interests of the working class. Look at the state of our city y’all.
And what’s worse is that this sick mindset is being enforced all over the country right now with the federal deployments of ICE collaborating with police in every major city to do literal acts of evil. We are a sadistic nation at both the macro and micro levels, with a government controlling and creating the most money in all of history, yet throwing up our hands as one predictable problem after another gets launched into the face of the working public.
Were you there? Did you talk to witnesses? I doubt it so you’re just speculating, which some might call lying too.
Those people who call it lying probably are registered to vote at the EP?
Hey would you look at that there was no gun
ACABs gotta ACAB
We can literally start ripping it out of the ground on day one. Mass surveillances is a bad idea at any time. But this time in history? That’s not serving Seattle in any way shape or form.
SPD is a simple evaluation. Do they police themselves?
As long as the answer is no? They are a direct threat to the safety of Seattle.
Just found out SPD wants peoples home surveillances too. They are starting a “volunteer” program.
Why does a tag artist have a gun? I thought street art was a peaceful endeavor?
They didn’t have one…
So, 2 car jackings the same time? Well, I think we need to have more police activity.