At around 11 a.m., a carjacking suspected tried to run from the police and climbed a tree to escape, resulting in an hourslong standoff.
Police said the suspect ditched the vehicle he carjacked in a parking lot.
A truck driver parked nearby said, at first, officers were fanning out looking for the suspect, and that is when he told them the suspect was up in the tree.
The man had reportedly climbed about 60 feet up the tree.
Deputies are on scene near Bothell Everett Highway and 180th Street SE attempting to take an adult male suspect into custody who fled and is currently hiding up a tree. Suspect is wanted in connection with a carjacking that occurred in Bothell today @BothellPolice.
— snocosheriff (@SnoCoSheriff) October 14, 2020
Over hours, dozens of people from around the Bothell community came out to watch.
“It’s a bummer things had to happen to come to this point for this guy, you know? I’m sure it’s also super humiliating to be stuck in a tree,” said witness Michale Blackstone.
The chain of events that led to this started on the highway.
Police said the suspect was riding a motorcycle, speeding at 114 mph, heading northbound on Interstate 405.
“It’s a 114 mph, it’s definitely reckless driving a motorcycle on the freeway, endangering the lives of everyone around them,” said Capt. Mike Johnson with the Bothell Police Department.
Washington State Patrol saw him and monitored but did not give chase. At some point, the man crashed, witnesses said. The crash involved three cars.
“I thought he was dead,” another witness said.
Incredibly, he was not seriously hurt.
“We just saw the bike on the ground — the lights and everything. And we saw him walk away,” Blackstone said.
Bothell police said the man carjacked someone at an Extended Stay America. But a witness who saw what happened got out a gun and shot at the suspect trying to speed away.
“It did flatten the tire, and the vehicle made it about to here,” Johnson said.
Investigators said the suspect ditched the car and climbed up a tree.
Negotiators tried for hours to get the man down and even brought in a fire truck, extending a ladder.
Eventually, the man slowly and painstakingly made his way down.
First responders checked him out, and he was taken into custody.
Police said that as far as they know, no one else was hurt in the incident. However, the suspect appeared to have a leg injury.
The police captain said, based on what he can recall, the last time a suspect hid in a tree in Bothell was 28 years ago.
Carjacking suspect is STILL in a tree near Bothell! Up there for 2 hrs now. Police treating situation like he is armed.
— Deedee Sun (@DeedeeKIRO7) October 14, 2020
Police say he was going 114 mph on motorcycle on 405 N, then carjacked someone at a hotel. Witness shot out tire! Then suspect climbed up tree.
@KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/fS9f3FRDQ5
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