On Friday January 28th, East Precinct personnel were notified about a potential stalking incident of a female employee outside of a First Hill medical clinic. A male friend of the employee called the precinct to see what could be done. The female had been reportedly followed and harassed several times by a person whom she perceived as a mentally ill transient male. She was afraid to go to and from the clinic to her bus stop.
East Precinct Community Police Team (CPT) and patrol officers worked together to identify the subject. After believing they knew who the subject might be, they placed his photo into a montage for the victim to review. The victim identified a person known to officers to exhibit the described behavior and who typically loitered in the general area where the victim walked.
Officers contacted a detective assigned to the Crisis Intervention Team in order to alert him that they might have a candidate for Mental Health Court should the subject be located.
On January 31st, the subject was located in the area the victim described, was placed into custody for harassment and booked into King County Jail with a flag for Mental Health Court. The investigating officers were also able to clear two additional and similar cases.
The end result is the victim feels safe, she knows how to obtain a restraining order and the subject arrested will obtain the necessary mental health support with the appropriate oversight by a case manager and the Mental Health Court.