Pedestrian in SR 99 tunnel prompts closure of southbound lanes
SEATTLE -- Shocking video shows a man in crisis hanging onto the roof of an SUV inside the Highway 99 Tunnel.
The tunnel had to be shut down for half an hour Wednesday, as Seattle Police dealt with the chaotic situation.
It’s not the first time there's been an incident involving someone who walked inside the tunnel this week.
It looks like a dramatic scene from an action movie: a man hanging on the roof a moving car like a stuntman before tumbling to the ground.
Only it was real life inside the Highway 99 Tunnel during rush hour.
“At first it was like confusion and then, ‘wow, what did he do?’ said Kodie Kreimann who recorded video of the arrest.
Police say that 21-year-old man was having a crisis, walking in the middle of southbound traffic, creating a danger to himself and others
Investigators say crisis-trained officers got to the tunnel and shut it down.
“It looked like he was going like this telling people to shut the cars off but then I saw the police officers running behind him and I thought oh this is much, much more,” said Kreimann.
Kreimman was in his car recording the fiasco –- as officers took down the suspect and pinned him next to his SUV
Police say he struggled and assaulted an officer in the chaos.
“He put up a fight, it took a couple of the police officers to actually get him down and restrained and once he got in the cop car, he wasn’t letting them shut the door so he was kicking it being, being quite combative,” said Kreimann.
WSDOT said there’s been three incidents with pedestrians in the tunnel just this week.
Officials say pedestrians are not allowed to walk inside and the signs are posted before you get into the tunnel.
WSDOT says they’ve had the same issues on other freeways and when it happens, they work with police to resolve the situation.
“I’ve seen people running across 99 outside the tunnel, so I can believe that,” said driver Curtis Christiansen. “I guess I’m grateful it hasn’t happened to me.”
The suspect was taken to Harborview Medical Center before being booked in jail on assault and pedestrian interference.
“Luckily the police officers did their job in the manner they were supposed to,” said Kreimann.
KOMO News asked investigators if the suspect is connected to a nearby homeless encampment that’s had some recent crime concerns, and police said they don’t know at this point.
