Half-naked felon found with gun, drugs near Seattle school

At approximately 7:40 am, Seattle police received calls, some from school staff, about a partially nude man engaged in lewd conduct at 11th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Cloverdale Street near the Highland Park Playground and Highland Park Elementary School.

According to police, when officers arrived, they found a 26-year-old male driver with his pants down inside the pickup, which appeared to have been spray-painted white. The man’s girlfriend was attempting to wake him, and officers could see a suspected methamphetamine pipe and a bong within the man’s reach in the vehicle’s console.

Officers discovered the vehicle was reported stolen and arrested the driver. During a search of the vehicle police then found a loaded handgun, a 24-gram brick of cocaine, 115 grams of methamphetamine in individual baggies, a 55-gram rock of methamphetamine, 149 fentanyl pills, and ammunition.

Officers booked the 26-year-old convicted felon into jail for possession of a stolen vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm.

In the wake of the riots that rocked the city in 2020, Seattle Public Schools banned police from campuses that had previously served as school resource officers to guard the students.

The Seattle City Council passed a $7.4 billion budget for the year on Tuesday which will not be returning police to campus. Instead, the new budget permanently defunds 80 police positions in the department that are already understaffed by hundreds of officers and well below minimum safety requirements.