Public defender talks armed suspect down from tree
A public defender in a bucket truck ended a 12-hour police chase through a northwest Washington state forest last week, by convincing a man reportedly armed with a box cutter to come down from a tree.
Police called Robert Jones, the public defender for Anacortes, Washington, when the man they’d been pursuing with a K-9 officer escaped up a 60-70 foot tree and asked for a lawyer, MyNorthwest.com reports. The article does not identify the man by name, but reports that he’s a 27-year-old transient.
The man left the tree around 11:30 p.m., after speaking with Jones for 30 minutes, said Anacortes Police Chief Bonnie Bowers to the GoAnacortes.com.
“He did drop his weapon before he came down, so we’re very grateful to Mr. Jones,” Bowers said. Jones did not respond to an ABA Journal request for comment.
The incident started the afternoon of July 22, when police noticed a car in a parking lot that is usually unoccupied, and thought the driver seemed distracted. Then they discovered that the license plate on his vehicle had been reported as stolen. He reportedly pushed an officer and fled after being asked for vehicle registration. An officer caught him, a fight ensued, and he was not subdued by two shots of a Taser stun gun, according to police.
Then the man pulled a box cutter out of his pocket, police say. The officer backed away and pulled out his gun, and the suspect ran into the forest. Later that afternoon a K-9 unit spotted the suspect, and a second chase ensued. He went up the tree, and Jones was called after negotiators tried to get the man down.
“We believe he is most likely involved in some other criminal activity in (the Whatcom County) area, which might be why he put up such resistance tonight,” Bowers told the paper.
