County gets automated fingerprints

New crime-fighting technology is headed to Snohomish County, thanks to money approved by Congress on Thursday.

The Senate approved a bill that includes $750,000 for an automated fingerprint identification system that will include palm prints.

The House approved the bill in early December, and President Bush is expected to sign it into law within two weeks, said Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash.

Once installed, police will be able to take palm prints of offenders and enter them into a database. When officers collect palm prints at a crime scene, they can check the database for a match.

Police also will be able to review hundreds of old crime scene palm prints to determine if there are any matches.

“With this funding, Snohomish County can implement new crime scene technologies that could solve old and new crimes and keep our communities safer,” Larsen said.

Lynnwood

Shots fired at car: Shots were fired at a car with two men inside late Thursday night, but no one was injured, police said. The men told officers they were stopped by the side of the road in the 200 block of 68th Avenue W. at about 11:30 p.m. when a car pulled up and the occupants opened fire, Lynnwood police detective Jerry Riener said. “Nobody was actually hit by bullets. They were lucky,” he said. The car sped away, and the men who had been shot at told police they did not know the motive for the shooting. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Lynnwood Police Department at 425-744-6900.

Bellevue

Bothell man expected to recover: A 25-year-old Bothell man is expected to recover after being stabbed during an argument in a downtown Bellevue bar, authorities said. Police arrested a 33-year-old Snohomish man for investigation of felony assault in connection with the incident, Bellevue police Capt. Jim Kowalczyk said. The argument occurred Friday night over a woman in the bar of the Tap Room restaurant at Bellevue Galleria in the 600 block of 106th Avenue NE, Kowalczyk said. Following the stabbing, the wounded man left the bar arm-in-arm with the suspect. A Bellevue police officer saw the man half-carrying the other at 9:45 p.m. north of the restaurant. The suspect dropped the victim, and the officer noticed that his lower body was covered in blood, Kowalczyk said. Police recovered a knife from a hedge a few feet from where the victim was found.

From Herald staff reports

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