Man attacks light rail security guard then impersonates him, police say
SEATTLE WA January 10 2019 – A man is under arrest after police say he entered an employees-only area of the Beacon Hill light rail station, assaulted a security guard, and then pretended to be a security guard when officers arrived on scene.
The bizarre incident unfolded at about 3:45 a.m. Tuesday when a security guard was dispatched to check on a tripped door alarm inside the Beacon Hill station in the 2700 block of Beacon Avenue South, said Jonah Spangenthal-Lee of the Seattle police.
The guard entered an employee break room and found the suspect, who had donned a Transit Security jacket and was rummaging through employees’ belongings.
The guard struggled with the suspect, who grabbed the guard’s collapsible baton and struck him on the head, police said.
Officers arrived at the scene a short time later and were greeted by the suspect, who was wearing a Transit Security jacket and holding the collapsible baton. He held a door open for officers and pointed to the injured guard as an intruder, officers said.
The suspect then locked himself in a gated area, which was soon unlocked by another security guard.
The suspect ignored officers’ commands to drop the baton and said he was going to kill them, but police eventually convinced the man to drop the baton and took him into custody, Spangenthal-Lee said.
Medics transported the injured guard to Harborview Medical Center for treatment and officers booked the 41-year-old suspect into the King County Jail for investigation of assault and burglary.
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