A 51-year-old Kent man is presumed to be on the run after he reportedly started a fire in an Auburn commercial building during a standoff with police after fleeing a Kent home when officers responded to a domestic violence call.
Kent Police officers, assisted by Valley SWAT, responded just after 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 8 to a report of a domestic violence assault with a firearm at an apartment in the 5500 block of South 237th St., according to Kent Police.
While officers were on their way to the call, the Kent man fled the area in a black pickup truck, according to police. Responding officers saw the pickup leaving the area and attempted to pull it over. The driver did not cooperate and fled at a high rate of speed.
Officers initiated a vehicle pursuit, but terminated it in the interest of public safety, according to police.
Officers continued to investigate and soon learned that the man might be located at his workplace, 1520 W. Pike St., in Auburn, according to police. Aided by Auburn Police officers, the building was surrounded and initial attempts to get the suspect to surrender were not successful. The male was believed to still be armed with the firearm he used prior to commit the domestic assault.
Negotiators were called-in and made numerous attempts to get the man to surrender, but again, he would not comply, according to police. Negotiations continued for several hours.
An arrest warrant was granted by a judge, authorizing officers to forcibly enter the building and use force to arrest the man, if necessary.
Valley SWAT assumed control of the scene and began using advanced tactics to get the man to surrender, including the use of a drone inside the building, flash bang devices, and the deployment of chemical munitions. Those efforts were not successful in getting the man to surrender.
SWAT officers began clearing the inside of the building, attempting to locate the suspect, when a fire broke out inside the building, according to police. The fire developed quickly, forcing SWAT officers to retreat from the building.
Fire personnel were called in to extinguish the fire. Their normal ability to fight the fire was impacted by the continued safety risk posed by the male suspect, according to police. Firefighters took the action they could to stop the fire, but building was quickly completely engulfed. It took some time before the fire could be extinguished.
The man is believed to have been the only person in the building at the time of the fire, according to police. Officers were able to evacuate the building without serious injury.
In an abundance of caution, the Independent Force Investigation Team (IFIT) King County was called in to investigate this incident. That group includes police agencies east and north of Seattle. Normally, the Valley Independent Investigation Team (VIIT) would handle the case.
“Because VSWAT and VIIT are made up of all the Valley agencies officers, we needed to bring in an outside team to avoid the conflict of interest issue,” Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla said in an email.
On April 10, Kent Police took back the investigation after a search of the Auburn building did not find the man.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated April 10.
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