SPD robbery detectives arrested a felon suspected of posing as a police officer before he robbed and beat two men near 1st and Pike early last Sunday.
The two victims left a bar near 1st Avenue and Pike Street around 1 AM on November 16th and walked north along 1st Ave. The victims stopped in a park, where two suspects—wearing shirts emblazoned with the word “police”—approached them. The suspects claimed they were police officers and told the victims they were taking them to jail for being intoxicated.
One of the robbers then pulled out an extendable baton and both suspects attacked the victims. The suspects grabbed a wallet and cellphone from one of the victims and fled on foot. The attack left both victims with bruises, and one man with a chipped tooth.
About 13 hours later, the victims walked into SPD’s South Precinct and reported the incident to the clerk. Robbery detectives took over the case and, this week, were able to identify one of the two robbery suspects as a 26-year-old felon.
Detectives and SPD SWAT officers arrested the suspect Friday in downtown Seattle after he showed up for a meeting at his Department of Corrections supervisor’s office.
Police are still working to identify the second suspect in the robbery. If you have any information about this case, please contact SPD’s Robbery Unit at (206) 684-5535.