SEATTLE — A convicted felon allegedly stole an SUV and ended up treading water in Lake Washington after a police chase.
It happened in the Pinehurst neighborhood at KJ’s Coffee. Taylor Schwartzenberger- whose wife owns the business - was making deliveries here Thursday.
“And one of my barista girls was like, ‘Hey, your car is driving away.’”
Surveillance video shows how that happened: a silver van pulls up behind Schwartzenberger’s SUV. A man hops out of the van, crawls through the back of the vehicle, and uses a keyless ignition button to start it and drive off.
Schwartzenberger thought, “I got to go get my car back. I’m not going to let him take my car and everything that was in the car.”
The barista loaned Schwartzenberger her car. He took off, using an Apple AirTag to track his SUV while he called police.
When Schwartzenberger and police met up, he jumped into a patrol car, and they soon faced the suspect, bumper to bumper:
“He was probably thinking, ‘what do I do’, and we like, ‘what’s he going to do?’ And sure enough, he rammed the cop car,” Schwartzenberger said.
Schwartzenberger says the suspect threw the stolen SUV in reverse and got stuck in a yard.
Police say when an officer approached the stolen vehicle, the suspect pointed this gun at him. The suspect ran around a house, dropped the gun and jumped into Lake Washington.
“He just stayed in the water treading water. Looked up at me and said, ‘I’m sorry.’ And I was like, ‘yeah, you’re sorry you got caught.’”
Police say, about 25 minutes later, the suspect surrendered.
Schwartzenberger saw the suspect empty his pockets.
“He had about four key fobs,” Schwartzenberger said. “Cell phones were left in my car. There was about two, three cell phones that were left my car and then drugs. He had a bunch of drugs and crack pipe.”
Police confirm the 38-year-old man spit out fentanyl.
They also say he’s a convicted felon on probation, who is wanted on warrants in two counties. Schwartzenberger says he’s tired of crime and wants repeat criminals held accountable.
“I just want to know who it has to impact for things to change, because clearly small businesses that are being affected on the daily and nothing has changed.”
Knowing that the suspect was armed, Taylor says he’s grateful none of his customers, employees, or anyone in his family was injured.