Edmonds police arrested a 36-year-old Mountlake Terrace man on charges of burglary, assault and harassment after a two-and-a-half-hour standoff at a Highway 99 hotel early Sunday morning.
No one was injured during the incident.
Edmonds police spokesperson Sgt. Josh McClure confirmed that the man had previously been trespassed from America’s Best Value inn, located near 220th Street Southwest and Highway 99. At around 3 a.m. Sunday, the suspect returned to the hotel and stood in the lobby with a large knife.
Police officers responding to the scene attempted to negotiate with the suspect, but he remained aggressive and threatening. The man made no attempts to surrender, even when police told him he was under arrest.
When the suspect tried to escape up the hotel stairs, an officer subdued him with a Taser.
After the suspect was taken to the hospital for evaluation, he was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for second-degree assault, first-degree burglary and felony harassment.
Our city is going to see more of these types of incidents with the County purchase of this very hotel for the purposes of transitional housing for individuals who are homeless.
Our city resources, the reduced safety of our Police Officers and of the residents will be required with the increased criminal activity that will be inevitable, particularly because there is no requirement for treatment in order to be offered housing at the hotel.
There was an Ordinance that county CM Nate Nehring brought to County Council that would have required a commitment to drug addiction treatment (where it is necessary) in order to stay at the hotel was voted down on a 3-2 vote last week even though public feedback was emphatically in support of the Ordinance.
There must be measurable metrics provided and accountability for this decision. I hope for the best but fear the worst.
Elizabeth,
Everyone knows, including the county, that the drug problems and criminal activity currently in this hotel area will go away once the county takes control of the hotel, right?
THE MOST VULNERABLE people that actually need this hotel once the county opens it will not go there if they know drug use is allowed.
Are the county officials really as dumb as they vote? I mean really? This is 101 stuff. It doesn’t take a masters degree. Heck this is crayola stuff. A five year old could figure this out.
The County is trying to address a problem we are all complaining about. It really doesn’t help much for everyone to condemn the effort before it is even implemented. It is my understanding that the plan is to staff the building and to make clients sign a behavioral contract to be admitted with the understanding that breaking it will result in eviction. This is one of the pieces we need to enforce our new no camping ordinance. It is not smart to try to throw out something and replace it with nothing just because the something isn’t somehow perfect.
So… Clint is against drug testing. Which is currently the issue most people have with the current change of plans. Clint, would you invite a family member to live with you knowing the they will be using fentanyl under your roof?
I wouldn’t and that is the problem with the recent county vote on this building. I want to give it a chance, like you do, but there has to be rules otherwise the most vulnerable won’t go there.
I’m not against drug testing as I’m not sure what you mean by that. I’m against making drug treatment a condition of residency simply because forcing people to do things like that generally just doesn’t work. If that worked well, I’d be all in. Giving people that option is a great idea and I think that is the plan for this facility. I have been informed by a very reliable source that the plan is for any potential resident to have to sign a behavioral agreement before they are accepted. In other words the scenario would go something like the Edmonds Police find a man trying to live in the library entryway; they humanely take him to the motel and he refuses to sign the behavior agreement, so they then arrest him under the anti camping ordinance and he goes to jail. The only way to find out if this will work is to try it. Trying to help people is half the concern and trying to make our streets and parks safe again is the other half. People who just refuse help will probably have to detox in a jail or mental health facility.