MYNORTHWEST NEWS

SPD arrests suspect for setting fire to police vehicle with officer inside

Oct 15, 2020, 2:34 PM | Updated: 4:09 pm

Seattle police...

An SPD vehicle was set on fire Thursday with officers still inside. (SPD Blotter)

(SPD Blotter)

The Seattle Police Department says it has arrested a person it suspects set fire to a police vehicle while an officer was still inside.

SPD reports that the incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. Thursday in an alley between Dexter Avenue and John Street in South Lake Union. An officer in their patrol vehicle was initially searching for a man “brandishing a flaming piece of lumber.”

After the officer located the man, the suspect threw the lit lumber into the officer’s vehicle. Other officers pursued the man into a parking garage, where he was subdued with a TASER and placed under arrest.

While officers were conducting their arrest of the man, the patrol vehicle was fully engulfed by the flames from the lumber. The officer who was inside of the vehicle when the lumber was thrown in was transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening burns.

Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan addressed the incident on The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. You can listen to the full interview below:

This is a developing story — we will provide further updates as they become available

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