WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Suspect arrested after fire station, hotel break-ins

A 36-year-old man is expected to be booked into King County Jail after treatment at Harborview Medical Center following two break-ins in The Triangle early this morning – at Fire Station 32 and at The Grove. According to the report summary and incident audio, police say he first came to their attention around 3 am, when someone reported a man near the fire station, yelling for help. He then was reported to have gone into The Grove a few blocks east, claiming he was being followed, and starting “to barricade the entrance of (the hotel).” What happened after that isn’t explained (update: he left before police arrived) but at 4:30 am police got a report that the same man had gotten inside the fire station. Dispatch audio indicates he first was in the apparatus bay (where the SFD vehicles park), “refusing to leave,” and then went into a tool room and locked himself inside. There, he was reported to be “setting off fire extinguishers.” After about 20 minutes, officers talked him into emerging, and they arrested him. He was transported to Harborview after he, according to the summary, “admitted to taking meth prior to the incident and was hallucinating.” The summary also says he got into FS32 “through an unlocked basement”; we’re waiting to hear back from SFD about the extent of the damage done. (Thanks to Aaron for the tip on this.)

ADDED: SFD spokesperson Kristin Hanson tells WSB, “We are currently conducting an inventory of items that need to be replaced or repaired due to damage in the tool room.”

2 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Suspect arrested after fire station, hotel break-ins"

  • Joe August 19, 2024 (3:57 pm)

    Kids – this is why they tell you to just say no to drugs.

    • K August 19, 2024 (4:41 pm)

      Seriously, this.  I have always wondered why D.A.R.E.’s messaging was “drugs make you uncool” and not “drugs make you barricade yourself in a closet setting off fire extinguishers because you’re convinced people are trying to kill you.”

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