Several readers contacted us asking about a large police response this morning at Garfield High School.
@cdnews whats goin on in the cd this morn? Heard about 10 police cars racing down 23rd at 8:35am
— Mâdqâp (@madqap) January 7, 2013
According to police, a 26-year-old man was contacted by an officer stationed at the high school around 8:30 a.m. Monday morning, the first day of classes after the school’s winter break.
The man, who had a warrant out for his arrest, and the officer got into a scuffle, according to SPD media officers. The officer sent out a radio call for back-up (the reason for the big response), but was able to take the man into custody quickly.
The man’s shoulder was injured during the struggle, and SFD Medics responded to treat him. His injuries were not serious enough to require a trip to the hospital. The officer was also treated for scraped knees.
UPDATE: Here’s the police version of events from SPD:
Officer Radford contacted a known warrant suspect and Deuce 8 gang member inside the office at Garfield HS. The suspect struggled with Officer Radford during the arrest but was eventually taken into custody by Officer Radford. Officer Radford sustained a minor injury during the arrest and returned to work later in the day. Suspect complained of a dislocated shoulder. The suspect was booked for Assault 3 and for the probation violations.
Thank you for the update. I am still curious about why he was at Garfield. Is there any clue?
My fiance knows a family member of his. He was there to pick up his house key from a younger brother.
A known wanted gang member should not be allowed in any school for any reason, glad the security at Garfield was able to get this guy.
GHS is full of gang members and families with gang ties. If I had it to do again, I would go back in time 4 years and put my kid in Blanchet or O’Dea – better yet, move to Mercer Island when my house was still worth something and send my kid to school there. GHS is ROUGH, even in the AP program.
So glad that GHS has SROs. I’d like to know why something seemingly so simple escalated to this point.
Officer knows him, knows he has a warrant, tries to detain him. Suspect fights officer. Officer calls for assistance. What’s to ponder?