Man accused of shooting at Lynnwood police now charged with kidnapping

LYNNWOOD — A Blaine man accused of shooting at Lynnwood police last month has been charged with kidnapping.

Lane Phipps also faces charges of attempted murder for allegedly shooting a man through the chest June 14 near Ferndale.

But the latest Snohomish County allegations, filed earlier this month, relate to a July 5 incident at the Pick-n-Pull auto parts store on Highway 99.

Around noon that day, a Lynnwood police officer noticed an unoccupied Jaguar with temporary plates in the parking lot. The officer found it was connected to Phipps, who had a warrant out for his arrest from the alleged shooting in Whatcom County. Dispatchers advised the officer to proceed with caution, according to charges filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.

Surveillance video reportedly shows Phipps, 26, enter the Pick-n-Pull with a man and a woman. Before coming in, they signed waivers and had their photos taken, as required.

The officer went to the east end of the store and called for backup. Two more officers arrived and used their cars to block the Jaguar from leaving.

Eventually, an officer found the suspect in the center of the lot with the woman he arrived with. Another cop yelled for Phipps to stop running. Motioning to a bag he was wearing across his chest, Phipps yelled he’d shoot them, prosecutors allege.

An officer told Phipps to show his hands, according to court papers.

“What are you going to do, shoot me?” Phipps reportedly responded.

The defendant ran between cars with a gun in his hand, according to court documents. One officer yelled out that he had a gun. Police tried to box Phipps in to stop him from fleeing.

Phipps grabbed the woman by the neck and pointed a gun at her head, using her as a “human shield,” deputy prosecutor Melissa Samp wrote in the charges. The woman later told investigators she feared for her life.

Phipps let the woman go, and still carrying the gun, ran east on Highway 99, making his way to a 10-foot-tall fence he tried to climb. While straddling the top, he allegedly shot in the direction of police. An officer shot back.

Phipps fell from the fence, got in the Jaguar and reportedly drove around the police cars. Officers pursued the Jaguar as he drove fast down Highway 99. Phipps evaded police that day.

The woman suffered an asthma attack, according to the charges. She was taken to Swedish Edmonds. She told detectives she’d just met Phipps, who she knew as “Brandon.” They went to the Pick-n-Pull to get parts for her car.

On Aug. 2, federal agents arrested the suspect in Toppenish, Yakima County. Before the arrest, officers reportedly saw Phipps throw a backpack, later found to contain two handguns and ammo. The defendant also had a new tattoo: an AK-47 down the side of his face.

On Aug. 19, prosecutors charged the Blaine man with first-degree kidnapping and unlawful firearm possession. He has numerous prior felony convictions, all in Whatcom County. They include several for unlawful firearm possession.

He was on probation at the time of the allegations due to a burglary conviction from 2017, court records show.

Phipps remained in the Snohomish County Jail on Thursday with bail set at $500,000.

Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.