Police arrested an 18-year-old Bothell man Thursday who they said went on a 24-hour crime spree from Arlington to Everett.
“He’s an example of a one-person crime wave,” Arlington Police Chief John Gray said Friday.
Police said the spree started Wednesday when the suspect broke into four homes in the early evening hours. One resident was home when the man forced his way inside, but the intruder ran off when he was confronted, Gray said.
On Thursday, an unrelated investigation into stolen mail, identity theft and drugs at Smokey Point Motor Inn led police to search for the suspect again. Later that day, he was tracked down after witnesses saw him breaking into four vehicles at two restaurants, Gray said.
Mechanics at a nearby gas station saw him run from a parking lot, chased him and held him for police.
Officers took him to Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington after he purposely bashed his head inside the patrol car, Gray said. After his release from the hospital, police took him back to the station for an interview.
Officers reported that the suspect then rammed his head into a wall at the station, cutting his forehead and causing about $800 in damage, Gray said.
Police took him to Everett Providence Medical Center for medical treatment, and while in the emergency room, the suspect, still handcuffed, sprinted out the door, Gray said.
About a half-hour later, a man reportedly forced his way into a house in the 1400 block of Wetmore Avenue, but ran away when the resident confronted him in the kitchen.
An Everett police dog tracked the man to an abandoned house in the 1400 block of Rockefeller Avenue, where he was reportedly found hiding in the attic. He refused to come down, and an Arlington police officer subdued him with a stun gun, Gray said.
Police say they found evidence that linked the man to Wednesday’s burglaries. He was booked early Friday into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of multiple counts of burglary, vehicle prowl and malicious mischief.
The suspect has been in and out of the county jail over the past three months and has an extensive criminal history, Gray said.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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