Tonight started innocently enough. I attended a well-organized Tweet Up at Arnie’s Restaurant in Edmonds and met a lot of great fellow Tweeters. Because today is Renee and my 13th wedding anniversary we had agreed that I’d pick up a pizza on the way home as a mini-celebration. I called as planned before I left and headed out as Renee phoned the order in.
After a brief stop at Bartell Drugs for some batteries and bubbles for the twins, I swung back towards Romio’s, one of literally 3 top take out pizza restaurants within 1/4 mile of our home. I pulled into the parking lot (as I have dozens of times before) and pulled into an empty spot right in front of the restaurant. As I entered Romio’s, I heard sirens approaching but didn’t think much of it as the restaurant is located on a busy street and highway. I knew I was too early for the pizza but I strolled to the counter to let them know I was there and would hang out until it came out. The woman at the counter mentioned that something big must be happening in the parking lot and I turned around to check it out.
I suddenly noticed three Edmonds police cars parked at angles facing a Honda Sedan that was stopped in the middle of the lot. Officers emerged from each police car with guns drawn – one with what appeared to be an assault rifle (and his line of fire was pretty much where I was standing – so I bolted to the other side of the restaurant). One of the Romios employees scrambled to shut the front doors and joined me at the side of the restaurant that seemed (somewhat) safer. It was a very intense scene – there was no movement for a minute or two and slowly the driver emerged (young, caucasian male) and he was ordered to put his hands up and kneel on the ground. He complied and was quickly led away and placed into custody in one of the patrol cars. As the scene continued, more police cars showed up – eventually 7 in total were in the parking lot.
The standoff continued and slowly more suspects emerged – they were all young caucasian men who looked to be in their young 20s. Each were ordered to raise their hands and slowly step away from the vehicle (guns were drawn entire time) and kneel on the ground until they could be placed under arrest. Four were eventually arrested.
I was videotaping most of the event but unfortunately I received a phone call while videotaping and when I accepted the call, the video was lost (it hadn’t been saved yet). However, I was able to take a few photos of the scene – you can see one of the officers with the rifle trained in a couple of the shots (if you enlarge the photo or zoom in). I also have a very brief video of the scene after all suspects were apprehended.
I have no idea what these guys did to create such a response from the police but it must have been pretty bad. I’m sure our friends at www.MyEdmondsNews.com will get the scoop.
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