Homeowner busts prostitution deal with citizen's arrest

SEATTLE — A Seattle man took matters into his own hands when he saw a prostitution deal happening near his house.

John Parsie, who lives off Fremont Avenue North in Broadview, saw a car blocking his garage on Wednesday. A man and a woman, naked from the waist down, were in the car.

"I asked them what they were doing," Parsie told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter David Ham. "The guy said that basically it's none of my business. I said no it is my business."

John Parsie is not a police officer, but he has called police before to complain about prostitutes using his alley as a place of business.

This time, in addition to calling police, he wanted to make sure that the two didn't escape.

"He started to take off as I was holding on to the car," Parsie said, "and at that point I opened up the door and I pulled him out, and I said you are basically under arrest until I call the cops."

"He made the threat that he has a gun," Parsie added, "and he's gonna shoot me and I said well, we'll see about that."

The man never produced a gun.

Parsie said his martial-arts training helped him as he sat on the man and kept an eye on the woman while waiting for police.

"Basically, that training kicked in and I didn't even think about it twice," Parsie said. "You know to get involved."

A neighborhood group called "GAIN Broadview" is starting a citizen patrol in the area. They say this type of thing happens all the time and they are hoping to take a more watchful approach to reporting crime.

"I've seen prostitutes dropped off literally in front of my house," said Brandon Busch, a member of the group.

Seattle Police told Ham that they discourage people from making a citizen's arrest because of dangers like those Parsie encountered.

They said it is legal to make a citizen's arrest, but they discourage it. If citizens witness a crime, police said, they should just call 9-1-1.

KIRO