SEATTLE -- A police standoff sparked by an unpaid cab fare in North Seattle ended Tuesday when police discovered the suspect escaped before police arrived.
Police said the incident started around 3:45 a.m. at an apartment complex at North 137th Street and Midvale Avenue North.
A cab driver drove a woman from Shoreline to the North Seattle apartment. The cabbie said when he dropped the woman off, she refused to pay the fare. The driver held her jacket in an effort to get her to pay the fare.
The woman went inside the apartment and her boyfriend came out with a gun and pointed it at the cabbie. The boyfriend took the jacket, refused to pay the fare and went inside the apartment.
Police believe the boyfriend is a 26-year-old man who has had run-ins with police before.
Police officers arrived at the scene and negotiators tried to establish contact with the suspect. Over a dozen armed SWAT members arrived around 7 a.m. About a half an hour later, a woman was seen leaving the apartment, handcuffed and taken into police custody. Police confirmed the 22-year-old woman was the same woman involved in the unpaid cab fare incident.
Several hours later, SWAT members entered the apartment and discovered the suspect had already fled the premises.
More details to follow.
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