A suspect in Seattle has been arrested after setting a police SUV on fire while an officer was still inside. The officer was able to escape the vehicle and was take to the hospital with non-life-threatening burns.
In a press release, the Seattle Police Department said the officer was responding to calls in response to a man brandishing a flaming piece of lumber. When the officer found the suspect, the man threw the flaming lumber, believed to be a 2×2, into the patrol vehicle.
Police arrested a man in S. Lake Union today after he threw burning lumber into a patrol car. One officer taken to HMC with injuries from the fire. Force Investigators on scene as an officer is believed to have discharged a firearm during the incident: https://t.co/nXo7lpFUe2 pic.twitter.com/kIa30Bdp56
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) October 15, 2020
SPD said it is believed the officer fired his weapon at the suspect. Other responding units were able to locate the man and used a taser to subdue him.
VIDEO JUST IN shows Seattle Police SUV on fire after man torched it with flaming piece of wood while SPD officer was sitting inside! That man has been arrested. Seattle Police Officer is now being treated at hospital for burns.
— Preston Phillips (@PrestonTVNews) October 16, 2020
VIDEO: Muqaddas Ibrahim pic.twitter.com/yeF3HtTLVk
“He lunged in, he ran and the driver’s seat was already in flames. I thought the officer was still in the car, the driver’s seat was on fire and then within minutes the car was engulfed in flames,” one witness told KIRO 7.
The man, “he comes walking down the ally with a torch, screaming I’m gonna kill all you -- (and then uses the) n word,” another witness said. Witnesses at the scene said the officer identified himself and that's when the suspect threw the burning lumber into the SUV.
