Naked man leads police on chase through Seattle before jumping in Elliott Bay
May 27, 2014, 11:09 AM | Updated: 3:31 pm
A man who ran naked through the streets of Seattle Monday morning is undergoing evaluation after fleeing police and jumping into Elliott Bay.
Police first spotted the man as he streaked past headquarters around 10:00 a.m. at 5th and Cherry. Officers followed him into a building at Columbia Street and Alaska Way and were able to get one handcuff on him. But then he took off again, says Ofc. Drew Fowler.
The man kept running towards the waterfront, where he was able to jump off Coleman Dock and into the water.
Seattle Harbor Patrol and Fire Department boats were called to the scene, where they tried for some time to fish him out of the water.
Fowler says the clearly disturbed man did all he could to elude capture.
“At one point, he climbed up one of the ladders and instead of exiting the water, jumped back into the water and was otherwise just being very difficult.”
Officers finally nabbed the man and pulled him to shore. He was transported to Harborview Medical Center for evaluation.
Police later learned he had been at Harborview earlier in the day for a medical evaluation, stripped off his clothes, and fled.