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K9 Team, Officers Track, Arrest Auto Thief in West Seattle

A K9 team and patrol officers tracked and arrested a 37-year-old suspect early this morning while investigating a report of a stolen car in Highland Park.

On August 4th, at approximately 2:00 am,  Officer Bryan Grozav took a report of a stolen 2006 Subaru Legacy.  As he was leaving the scene after taking the report, Grozav saw the stolen Subaru driving on South Roxbury Street.  The officer attempted to follow the car, but it quickly drove off.  About 10 minutes later, Sergeant Tamara Floyd saw the Subaru on Roxbury driving at a high rate of speed.  The Subaru was emitting a strong odor, caused by the driver burning the clutch.

At about 2:40 am, Officer Sam Specht was in the area of 9th Avenue SW and SW Trenton Street when he noticed the strong odor of a vehicle’s burning clutch.  The officer saw the stolen car drive into an alley near 11th Ave SW. The officer located the unoccupied stolen Subaru in the alley and requested a K9 team to respond and additional officers for containment.

K9 Officer Mark Wong and Police Dog Ziva responded and began to track from the stolen car.  They tracked the suspect for several blocks until they reached a garage with an open door in the 1000 block of SW Portland Street.  Officers entered the garage and found the suspect hiding behind the door.  The suspect was arrested without incident.

The vehicle’s owner responded to the scene and took possession of his Subaru.

The 37-year-old suspect was later booked into the King County Jail for investigation of auto theft.