By Tim Clifford

Less than 12 hours after reaching out to the public the King County Sheriff’s Office has identified their suspect in a Malicious Harassment incident that took place in SeaTac last month.

KCSO Sergeant BJ Meyers confirmed to the Highline Times that information from local tipsters has led detectives to identifying the suspect and his current whereabouts. While the identity and location of the suspect are currently known an arrest has not yet been made, nor has there been any contact between the Sheriff’s Office and the suspect.

Detectives are working closely with the King County Prosecutor's Office on handling the details of the charges being filed and timing the arrest.

“Detectives have not arrested him yet, there is still more work to be completed, but they are confident they have the correct person ID’d,” tweeted Sergeant Myers at 5:03 p.m. on April 2.

An arrest is expected sometime during the next week with a press release from KCSO to be issued at that time with more information concerning the suspect.

The incident occurred a month ago on March 1, just after 7 p.m., at the 7-11 located at 3120 S. 176 St. in SeaTac.

According to witness and victim accounts the suspect had parked his GMC Jimmy in front of the 7-11 and was pouring water into the radiator when two Muslim females pulled into a space nearby. One of the women went into the 7-11 while the other remained in the car. After finishing his work under the hood the suspect sauntered over to the woman in the car and began trying to flirt with her.

The woman politely rebuffed his efforts and indicated she wished to be left alone. These dismissals only enraged the suspect who began accusing all Muslims of being violent and went on to explain how much he hated and distrusted them. At that point the suspect pulled out a black pistol, held it out for the woman to see, and demanded the she open her door. The victim attempted to reason with the gun-wielding man while keeping her door locked and window rolled up.

Eventually giving up, the suspect got back in his car and drove off.

The suspect was described as being between 30 to 45 years of age and standing about 5’6 with brown and slightly graying hair, a chubby build, and weighing around 200 lbs. He was last seen driving a dark blue or possibly black 1997 GMC Jimmy.

The suspect is armed with a handgun and should be considered to be extremely dangerous.

“Commonly referred to as a “hate crime”, felony Malicious Harassment includes threatening or placing someone in fear of harm because of one’s perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, or sensory handicap,” wrote Sergeant Meyers in a press release.

If any readers have any further information about the suspect they are asked to contact Detective Minshull at 206-477-4329.