SEATTLE — Police arrested a 22-year-old man for allegedly attempting to kidnap an 8-year-old girl in a West Seattle neighborhood Saturday afternoon.
At around 2 p.m., patrol officers responded to reports of a man trying to take a young girl while she played in a residential front yard with her friends. There, police found the child unharmed, yet “terrified,” according to the police report.
According to the probable cause statement, the suspect “gripped her arm and attempted to pull her further down the driveway and behind the neighbor’s home,” and the suspect tried pulling her “with his left hand while holding a knife in his other hand.” The girl screamed and alerted the adults. The suspect then ran off before police arrived.
Despite searching the neighborhood, officers could not find the suspect. Police found video evidence of the suspect running off and collected it for their investigation. SPD officers then distributed the suspect’s picture to all officers, department-wide.
The next day, on Sunday afternoon, officers found a man matching the suspect’s description and arrested him.
Police interviewed the suspect at Seattle Police Headquarters before booking him into the King County Jail for Investigation of Kidnapping.