SEATTLE — The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has apologized for claiming arrests were made on Aurora Avenue before the FIFA games started in Seattle.
The original headline on SPD’s blotter specifically cites efforts on Aurora Avenue over the weekend that led to multiple arrests and more than a dozen women and children receiving support services.
The post has since been changed and no longer mentions Aurora in its headline
According to Casey McNerthney, Director of Communications for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, 5 out of 6 cases referred to their office over the weekend were made in West Seattle.
“Those arrests weren’t on Aurora Avenue but the cases were still very important,” said McNerthney. “The allegations are that [the suspects] believed they were communicating with either a 14 year old or 15 year old girl. It turns out it was an undercover police officer in each of these cases.”
McNerthney says multiple agencies were involved to make the arrests at meetup location in West Seattle.
In an email obtained by our partners at KIRO News Radio, Lt. Patrick Michaud confirms outreach efforts were made to women along Aurora Avenue, with at least one arrest made in connection to a shooting in the troubled corridor, but he admits the other arrests made over the weekend were made in West Seattle.
Lt. Michaud apologized for his confusion, saying he was given unclear information and that he should have double-checked the information before posting.
The blotter mentions that three minors were identified and connected with protective services, but Lt. Michaud does not clarify where they were found in his e-mail.
Lt. Michaud is listed as an Executive and Crisis Communications Expert for The Seattle Police Department on his LinkedIn profile and as an “SPD Hype Coordinator” according to this SPD blotter post.
KIRO 7 has reached out to SPD for an interview but has not heard back from the agency.
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