A woman was assaulted, dragged down the sidewalk, and had a pistol held to her head in a violent street robbery late St. Patrick’s night on E Pine that included a police car colliding with another vehicle as officers rushed to the scene, and the suspect reportedly opening fire after being confronted by a witness.

Police scoured a Capitol Hill partially darkened by COVID-19 closures in an unsuccessful search for the suspect in the just before 11 PM attack. One police cruiser was involved in a two-car collision at Broadway and Pine during the rush to the scene of the robbery. There were no reported serious injuries in the crash.

The robbery victim lost her purse to the suspect and suffered abrasions and a burn to her back from where she had been dragged across the pavement by her assailant. Meanwhile, a witness said he barely missed being shot during the suspect’s getaway.

The victim told police she had withdrawn cash and bought a bottle of wine at a nearby E Pine store and was walking with her phone toward Broadway when she noticed the suspect heading toward her from near the Seattle Central campus:

The suspect began running towards her, yelling “give me your purse” and “give me your wallet.” She noticed he had a firearm drawn and pointed towards her. He ran up to her and held the firearm approximately 2 inches from her right temple. He grabbed onto the straps of her green tote and purse and pulled her. The pull caused her to fall to the sidewalk and the suspect began dragging her. She was on her back, the back of her head to the suspect and was dragged westbound on the sidewalk, along the south side of E Pine St. She was screaming as he dragged her.

The victim told police the suspect released her as he fled with the purse. She said she gave chase but stopped when she heard a gunshot.

Police say a man who had been walking on Boylston heard the commotion and saw the suspect running with the victim chasing behind. The witness said the suspect stopped next to a bicycle rack located on the east side of Boylston. “Did you steal that purse?,” he asked. The witness said the suspect, standing around six feet away, aimed the pistol directly at him, fired the gun, but did not hit him. “He heard the sound and said believed he saw smoke coming from the firearm,” the SPD report on the incident reads. “The staff of Hot Mama’s Pizza told him to get inside and he ran inside the restaurant where he called 911.”

The suspect was last seen fleeing the area northbound on Boylston.

Police and a K9 fanned out across the neighborhood searching nearby streets, Cal Anderson, and Capitol Hill Station for the suspect described only as a black male with long dreadlocks, around 5’6″ with a thin build, and wearing a baggy jacket or hoodie at the time of the hold-up. There were no immediate arrests but police were working to gather security video from the area to help identify the suspect.

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