A man in his 50s was arrested on Friday evening after causing a major disruption on Seattle's Interstate 5. He was reported to have been throwing various items onto the freeway, which included a fish tank, according to KOMO News. The disruption began at around 5:20 p.m. near the Boren Avenue overpass, affecting northbound traffic as debris hit at least two vehicles, causing damage but not resulting in injuries.
Upon response, one Washington State Patrol trooper was assaulted by the suspect who wielded a pole, as reported by FOX 13 Seattle. The trooper was injured, however, not seriously. The suspect, who was also reportedly armed with a knife and a pitchfork at some point during the standoff, was uncooperative, causing authorities to call in a SWAT team and negotiators in an attempt to resolve the situation safely.
Seattle Police Department officers were involved in the hours-long standoff, which inevitably led to several lane closures on I-5, including the Olive Way off-ramp, based on details from a KOMO News. The freeway was fully reopened around 9:30 p.m. after the incident was brought to a close.
The suspect was finally taken into custody just after 9:00 p.m. by the Seattle police SWAT team. "They’ve been trying to lock this area down. They had a whole little homeless camp last year. They cleaned up the area. They drove this guy out, I thought he was gone, but obviously not," Sincere Antonio Harris, a resident, said, as per KOMO News.
