On October 2nd at approximately 3:00 a.m. two female West Precinct officers were working traffic control posts at the scene of the earlier Hit and Run vehicle/pedestrian collision in the 1600 block of 15th Avenue West. The officers were blocking vehicular traffic for southbound 15th Avenue West and eastbound off the Magnolia Bridge while additional officers blocked other traffic patterns so the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) detectives could safely process the scene and conduct their investigation. Northbound 15th Avenue West vehicular traffic was completely shut down.
An adult female suspect along with another female friend arrived near the collision scene in a cab that was blocked from going any further. Both subjects got out of the cab and began to walk down the middle of 15th Avenue West.
The suspect was repeatedly screaming vulgarities specifically directed at the officers as she walked along. The two female subjects walked up to and past one of the TCIS detectives taking measurements of the collision scene and then started to walk towards the actual crime scene when they were told by a detective that they needed to be on the sidewalk.
The friend (2nd subject) complied with the detective’s directive but the suspect continued to scream profanities while completely disregarding the detective’s lawful order. A patrol officer stopped the suspect and tried to explain to her that there was an on-going criminal investigation being conducted and showed her another route she could take to get around the crime scene.
The suspect responded by screaming profanities at the officer and continued to walk on, subsequently knocking over a piece of measuring equipment used by the TCIS detectives. The officer grabbed the suspect by the arm to prevent her from walking through the crime scene. The suspect responded by punching the officer in the face, knocking her to the ground. The suspect then jumped on top of the officer and attempted to strike her some more.
A second officer ran over to assist and was assaulted as well. Additional patrol officers and a TCIS detective then ran over to assist and the suspect was taken into custody.
The two involved female patrol officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The 22-year-old female suspect was booked into the King County Jail for felony assault (Assault on an Officer).