Seattle police fished a completely naked man out of Elliott Bay Tuesday morning after he fled from a hospital and led police on a lengthy foot chase through downtown.
The man first came to the attention of police just before 10 a.m. after he ran streaking past Police Headquarters at 5 Ave and Cherry St. Officers found the man running downhill toward Elliot Bay and took off after him.
Police attempted to arrest the man after he entered a building at Columbia St and Alaskan Way, but after officers slapped handcuffs on one of the man’s wrists, he turned and attacked the officers. The man then continued his flight onto the ferry terminal at Colman Dock, where he jumped into a very chilly Elliot Bay.
Seattle Police Harbor Units and Seattle Fire Harbor Units both arrived and, after some cajoling, convinced the man to climb aboard a boat. An ambulance met the Seattle Fire Harbor Unit at the Seattle Water Taxi terminal and took the man to Harborview.
Police later discovered the man had been at the Harborview earlier in the day for a medical evaluation, when he fled the facility, shed his clothes, and headed downhill toward the water.