Police arrested a man for theft and found an altered firearm in his backpack Wednesday afternoon.
Shortly after 3:45 p.m., officers were working a retail theft emphasis at a business in the 300 block of NE Northgate Way. Loss prevention employees alerted police after the suspect left with an unpaid bottle of alcohol concealed in his pants. The suspect was taken into custody and the merchandise was recovered.
During the arrest, the man told officers he had a firearm in his backpack. Police checked a brown poster tube in the man’s backpack and found a .22 caliber rifle with the stock and barrel sawed off. Other firearm parts and tools often used in the commission of a burglary were also found in the suspect’s belongings.
Officers confirmed the suspect had several outstanding warrants for his arrest and was also a convicted felon, making him ineligible to legally possess firearms.
Police booked the 44-year-old suspect into the King County Jail for unlawful possession of a firearm, shoplift, and possession of burglary tools.
