Dog thief arrested after helicopter pursuit

Kent police arrest Renton man in incident.

Following a vehicular and helicopter pursuit, the Kent Police Department arrested a 30-year-old Renton man on Sept. 12.

According to the Kent Police Department, officers initiated a vehicular pursuit of the Renton man after concerns of abduction. Police arrested the man after he crashed into another vehicle and attempted to flee on foot. An investigation following the man’s arrest found he stole a woman’s dog after violating a no-contact order and threatening her.

Kent police officers were dispatched on Sept. 12 at approximately 6:57 p.m. to the 27400 block of 132nd Avenue Southeast regarding a domestic dispute involving a weapon. According to the department, 911 callers, including a 26-year-old woman involved in the incident, advised emergency services of a dispute involving multiple individuals in a parking lot near a Buick, with at least one person in possession of a firearm involved.

Multiple officers arrived in the area, searching for the reported dispute, with police attempting to reach the 26-year-old woman to determine her location.

Officers became concerned of the 26-year-old woman’s potential abduction after a 911 caller stated that “all parties had left in the Buick,” according to the department. Officers saw the Buick leaving the complex and attempted to stop the vehicle. The driver fled.

Officers initiated a pursuit of the Buick for a short distance, discontinuing the pursuit after the “suspect [drove] too recklessly,” according to the department.

Following the Kent Police Department’s vehicular pursuit of the vehicle, the King County Sheriff’s Office Guardian One helicopter located the Buick traveling on the roadway.

The helicopter broadcasted to Kent officers after the Buick struck another vehicle near Southeast 272nd Street and 164th Avenue Southeast in Covington. Both driver and passenger, two men, fled the collision on foot.

The helicopter continued to monitor the running men until Kent officers apprehended and arrested both.

Officers arrested the driver of the Buick, the 30-year-old Renton man, without incident.

The Kent Police Department’s investigation of the incident found the Renton man violated a no contact order, showing up at the 26-year-old woman’s home and threatening her. According to the department, the man additionally stole the woman’s dog in the incident.

Kent police booked the man for domestic violence felony harassment, domestic violence theft in the third degree (for the theft of the woman’s dog), unlawful possession of a firearm, driving with a suspended license, hit-and-run of an attended vehicle, domestic violence violation of a no contact order, and obstruction.

According to the department, both the woman and her dog “are okay.”