After failing to break in to a Crown Hill marijuana shop this morning, a 19-year-old burglar ditched his shirt and led police on a lengthy chase through the neighborhood.
A group of neighbors called police around 12:30 AM after they heard a repetitive hammering sound coming from the pot shop at NW 85th Street and 3rd Avenue NW.
The hammering sound turned out to be a masked man, who was trying to pry out the window of the store with a crowbar. When he noticed neighbors watching him, he took off running.
Police arrived and began searching for the man, and Officer Enoch Lee quickly spotted the suspect—now unmasked—standing near a van on 87th and 17th NW. When the suspect saw Officer Lee, he took off running into the neighborhood.
Over the next 90 minutes, the man hopped fences and hid in yards as police—joined by K9s Ziva and Jaeger, and their handlers Officers Mark Wong and Rory Smith—pursued him.
Finally, the suspect—now shirtless—emerged near NW 83rd Street and 12th Avenue NW, where he was arrested by Officer Brandon Craig.
Police booked the 19-year-old man into the King County Jail for investigation of burglary, and seized his van, which had tow hitch, and rope attached, which he may have used to rip down the pot shop’s back gate.