MERCER ISLAND — His hunting ground was home to some of the wealthiest families in King County.
After failing once to abduct a 63-year-old woman here two weeks ago, a kidnapper returned to Mercer Island on Thursday and snatched a 9-year-old girl from a sidewalk near her bus stop.
Police say the man then called the girl’s father and demanded a substantial ransom.
Officers arrested a man — independently identified as 32-year-old Kristopher H. Larsen — about 10:40 p.m. Thursday in Monroe after he led dozens of officers from multiple police agencies in a harrowing car chase at speeds of more than 100 mph.
The girl, a third-grader at Mercer Island’s Lakeridge Elementary School, was found unharmed in a stolen Ford Explorer that the suspect was driving, police said. Neither she nor her family have been identified.
"This kinda brought a happy ending to what started off as a really rotten day for us and the family," said Mercer Island police Sgt. Lance Davenport.
In a Friday morning press conference, police described the dramatic events of the previous afternoon and evening:
The girl’s school bus driver dropped her off about 3:55 p.m. at her regular stop near her home in the 7500 block of E. Mercer Way, near the southeast tip of the island. The bus driver said she seemed fine as she walked toward home.
About 5:15 p.m., the girl’s father answered the phone in his office at a computer company in Kirkland. A man said he had his daughter and demanded an undisclosed amount of cash if he ever wanted to see the girl again.
Through a series of phone calls that followed, the father was instructed to deliver the money to a pickup point outside Factoria Mall. He’d see his daughter after he left the money, the male caller said.
The father called Kirkland police about 15 minutes after the first call. Within minutes, detectives began planning for the money drop. Kirkland detectives called Bellevue police about 6:35 p.m. to arrange the transfer at Factoria Mall.
That set 22 Bellevue police officers in motion, joining 25 FBI agents to stake out the mall. Surveillance team members stationed themselves discreetly around the mall and its parking lot. Many officers wore plain clothes and drove unmarked cars as they took positions on rooftops and in vehicles, scanning the area with binoculars.
That evening as the girl’s family waited with detectives at a Bellevue command post, officers at Factoria Mall spotted a blue Ford Explorer that had been reported stolen from a rental company.
Police suspected the girl’s abductor was driving the SUV because the victim from a previous attempted abduction on Mercer Island two weeks ago described a similar vehicle.
Police tracked the suspect around the mall for about 90 minutes, before he went for the money. About 8:30 p.m., officers watched as the man approached the money with a black handgun in one hand, grabbed the ransom and drive off in the SUV.
FBI agents tailed the suspect through south Bellevue for nearly 20 minutes before the suspect returned to Factoria Mall, where police hoped he would then drop off the girl. But he didn’t, and police don’t know why, Davenport said.
Federal agents continued tailing the man to Seattle on I-90, where he apparently realized he was being followed. The SUV suddenly accelerated, weaving in and out of traffic at more than 100 mph. Officers from Bellevue, Seattle and King County, including the sheriff’s Guardian One helicopter, joined the chase as it continued through Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Bothell, Woodinville and Echo Lake northeast of Woodinville before ending in Monroe.
The pursuit lasted about 35 minutes until about 10:40 p.m., when the SUV sped eastbound on Highway 522 toward Monroe. State Patrol troopers finally stopped it by laying spike strips across the road and flattening its tires.
As officers drew their weapons and ordered the suspect from the car, Larsen slowly emerged, placed his hands on his head and surrendered.
Bellevue canine officer Tim Stoutt was first to look inside the car, where he discovered the 9-year-old girl, shaken and afraid but otherwise unharmed, Bellevue police spokesman Michael Chiu said.
Bellevue fire personnel examined the girl for injuries, and she soon was returned to her parents and two older brothers.
Davenport said the cooperation of nearly 100 officers from a number of police departments and the FBI resulted in the successful outcome.
"We have no reason at this time to believe anybody else was involved," Davenport said. After booking Larsen into the King County Jail, police traveled to a residence in Renton to interview his girlfriend.
After his arrest, Davenport said, Larsen admitted to the attempted kidnapping of a 63-year-old woman in Mercer Island on March 18.
Larsen has a previous conviction for a November 1999 domestic violence assault. He later was charged with bail jumping related to the same case.
A spokesman for the King County prosecutor’s office said charges of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree attempted kidnapping could be filed against Larsen early next week.
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