On February 17th, just before noon, a man in a red Suburban brandished a handgun at two women in another car in the 1100 Block of 4th Avenue South. The women did not report the incident. A man nearby took note of what occurred and reported it to 911, mentioning specifically that a handgun was displayed and provided a suspect vehicle description and direction of travel, which was northbound on 4th Avenue South. Communications dispatched officers to that area.
Shortly after the call was broadcast, the suspect pulled in behind a Parking Enforcement Officer’s scooter at 4th Avenue and Union Street. The PEO was stopped in a lane of traffic to allow a parked vehicle to enter traffic north on 4th. The suspect in the Suburban honked his horn at the PEO to get her to move. The PEO got out of her scooter to see what he wanted, and the suspect yelled at her and struck her scooter before fleeing the scene northbound. The Parking Enforcement Officer recognized the suspect vehicle from the previously broadcast call and immediately notified Communications of the encounter.
Approximately 7 or 8 King County Sheriff’s Office Metro Transit deputies were in the area on a bicycle training ride and heard the updated call from the PEO. They responded to the area and stopped the suspect vehicle in the 1600 Block of 4th Avenue. They took the suspect into custody and recovered a very realistic-looking air pistol (pellet gun) from the vehicle. The deputies turned the suspect over to the West Precinct officers. The suspect, a 51 year old male, appeared to be intoxicated. He was processed for Driving while Under the Influence. The suspect was later booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Assault, DUI and charges were requested for the hit and run collision.