Officers have arrested a 48-year-old man who tried to rob at least six people with a stolen gun and then led police on a car chase in broad daylight on Jan. 9.
East Precinct officers were called to a Shell gas station in the 800 block of Rainier Avenue South at about 12:30 p.m. in the Atlantic neighborhood.
Multiple victims told officers the suspect pointed a semi-automatic pistol at them after they refused to give him money.
One of them saw the suspect driving southbound on Hiawatha Place South in a white Ford Focus.
Roughly an hour later, South Precinct officers were called to the 4400 block of South Rose Street.
A U.S. Postal Service employee making deliveries told Seattle police officers as a man drove by, he held a gun up to his face and stared directly at her. The woman said she was afraid and called police for help.
Seattle police then spotted the Ford sedan near South Kenyon Street.
Police tried to stop the car, but the driver would not pull over. A pursuit was authorized after he’d been identified as being involved in several attempted robberies and a felony harassment incident with a gun.
The pursuit continued northbound on Renton Avenue South before the suspect crashed in the 7100 block of Martin Luther King Junior Way South not far from Othello Station.
Before the crash, officers saw the suspect throw the gun out of the Ford sedan near the 3900 block of South Othello Street. The gun was recovered by officers with the help of a witness who spotted it. It was reported stolen in Seattle in November 2023.
Victims from the East Precinct positively identified the man involved in the pursuit as the person who tried to rob them.
There were no injuries and there was no damage reported.
The suspect was arrested for two counts of attempted robbery and felony harassment. He was later booked into the King County Jail.