Seattle police arrested a 27-year-old felon overnight after officers observed him smoking fentanyl with a pipe outside a Capitol Hill grocery store and discovered he was carrying a loaded handgun.
Patrol officers encountered the man in front of the QFC grocery store near Broadway and East Pike Street just after midnight, according to the Seattle Police Department. Officers arrested him without incident.
During the interview, police recovered a loaded handgun. When asked where he obtained the weapon, he told officers he “found it.”
The suspect was recently released from prison and has previous convictions for multiple felonies including unlawful firearm possession, motor vehicle theft, attempting to elude police, and unlawful motor vehicle possession. He is prohibited from carrying firearms.
The suspect also had a $4,000 arrest warrant for fighting in public issued by Centralia Municipal Court.
Officers booked him into King County Jail for investigation of unlawful firearm possession and narcotics possession.
The arrest occurred in an area of Capitol Hill that has experienced elevated drug activity and property crime, prompting increased SPD patrol presence. The QFC location at Broadway and Pike Street sits in a busy commercial corridor frequenting pedestrian and transit traffic.
Washington state law prohibits individuals with felony convictions from possessing firearms, with violations carrying potential sentences of up to 10 years in prison.
