2:30 PM: Police are in Gatewood to find out more about a possible child-grabbing attempt. The call is from the area of 36th/Othello, though it’s not yet clear whether this is where it happened, or just where the 911 call was made from around 2 pm. According to what’s been said over the air so far, an 8-year-old girl said a man tried to grab her, and another child with her is repprted to have confirmed seeing it happen. He was described as white, 5’6″ to 5’7″, brown hair, blue eyes, grayish-blue hoodie and dark shorts. No other info yet, and further details might be hard to come by, but we’re publishing this from the “better to know, just in case” standpoint.
2:41 PM: A few more description details – the man appeared to be in his 30s, wearing a white shirt, with a black backpack, and possibly had a knife. The officer taking the report told dispatch that if they found a suspect, the information constitutes probable cause for a kidnapping attempt, so we have changed the headline from grabbing attempt to kidnap attempt.
ADDED MONDAY: Police say they’ve arrested a suspect. Here’s the summary received in response to our followup inquiry:
Seattle police officers arrested a 22-year-old man for attempting to kidnap an 8-year-old girl in a West Seattle neighborhood Saturday afternoon.
On April 25 at about 2:00 p.m., patrol officers responded to reports of a man attempting to take a young girl while she played in a residential front yard with her friends. There, police found the child unharmed, yet “terrified,” according to the police report.
According to the probable cause statement, the suspect “gripped her arm and attempted to pull her further down the driveway and behind the neighbor’s home,” and the suspect tried pulling her “with his left hand while holding a knife in his other hand.” The girl screamed and alerted the adults. The suspect then fled the area before police arrived.
Officers searched the neighborhood, but they could not find the suspect. Cops found video evidence of the suspect fleeing the area and collected it for their investigation. Police distributed the suspect’s picture to all officers, department wide. On the afternoon of April 26, officers found a man matching the suspect’s description and arrested him.
Officers transported the suspect to Seattle Police Headquarters to be interviewed by detectives. Afterwards, police booked him into the King County Jail for Investigation of Kidnapping.
We hope to have a separate followup later on the suspect’s status.
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