A wanted fugitive, who’s been on the run from police since he shot a man in the Central District in 2012, was caught on the banks of the Cedar River Tuesday after leading officers on a brief chase through Renton in a friend’s Hummer, with a six-year-old child in tow.
Detectives have been searching for the 26-year-old man since August 2012, when he shot and seriously wounded 44-year-old man in the 700 blk of 27th Avenue in the Central District following a series of increasingly violent confrontations. The 26-year-old had reportedly stolen the 44-year-old man’s bike at gunpoint while high on PCP and fought the man inside a convenience store on a separate occasion. Investigators learned the two men had previously been on friendly terms, and that the suspect had previously attended dinner at the victim’s home.
Police were able to identify the suspect following the shooting, but the 26-year-old man vanished, only to recently reappear in Washington after, he told police following his arrest, travelling to several different states over the last four years.
On Tuesday, members of SPD’s SWAT and Gang Units tracked the suspect to Renton, and tailed him as he rode in the passenger seat of a red 2007 Hummer SUV. When officers tried to pull the vehicle over, the Hummer’s 28-year-old driver sped away into oncoming traffic on the Maple Valley Highway.
The driver of the Hummer eventually stopped about a half mile away, in the 15000 block of 135th Avenue Southeast. There, the 26-year old suspect fled on foot and was caught a short time later on the banks of the nearby Cedar River.
After arresting the 26-year-old and the driver of the Hummer, officers found the driver’s six-year-old child in the backseat of the car.
Police turned the young boy, who was uninjured, over to his mother and took the two men into jail, booking the 28-year-old for attempting to elude police, and the 26-year-old for more than $700,000 in felony warrants.