Update, Dec. 9: Investigators have determined the suspicious items found in the SUV that crashed Saturday at the Edmonds waterfront were not explosives.
"Detectives from the bomb squad examined the device and determined that it was not an explosive, although it was designed to look very much like an actual pipe bomb," Detective Mark Jamieson of the Seattle Police Department wrote in a news release.
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Update, 2:30 p.m.: A bank robbery suspect is in custody after leading police on a chase through Shoreline and crashing an SUV on the Edmonds waterfront.
Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh of the Seattle Police Department said the incident began at around 11 a.m. Saturday when a man in his 30s robbed a bank in the 13200 block of Aurora Avenue North in Seattle.
The suspect fled the bank and then confronted a man in a pickup truck, carjacking the vehicle with the occupant still inside. He traveled into Shoreline, dropping the man and the truck off near North 143rd Street and Meridian and getting into a gold Ford Explorer.
The vehicle was spotted by a Shoreline police officer, and the King County Sheriff's Office began a pursuit, with the assistance of Shoreline Police and Edmonds Police. The suspect crashed the SUV while attempting to make a turn in the 301 block of Admiral Way.
The vehicle landed on its side, and the suspect was able to crawl out through the sunroof. He was immediately taken into police custody and did not appear to have any serious injuries, McDonagh said.
A bomb squad was called to the scene because the man told employees at the bank that he had explosives, and police spotted some unknown "suspicious items" in the Explorer, McDonagh said.
Bomb squad detectives from the King County Sheriff's Office and Seattle Police Department are still processing the scene. At this point, it's not clear whether the suspect used any sort of weapon or if the suspicious items are in fact explosives.
McDonagh said no one was injured in the bank robbery or police pursuit, although the pickup truck driver was emotionally shaken.
"Obviously it's a very frightening situation," he said.
The crash caused some minor property damage to the marina, McDonagh said.
Check back with Patch for more updates as the investigation continues.
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Original post: A man who robbed a bank in Seattle has crashed his car near the Edmonds ferry terminal, according to Sgt. Cindi West of the King County Sheriff's Office.
A bomb squad is en route to the scene because the suspect apparently claimed to have explosives. West said he was pursued by police from the bank to the 300 block of Admiral Way in Edmonds, where he apparently flipped his car.
“We think that there might have been somebody kidnapped (at the bank),” she said.
This is a developing story. Patch will post more information as soon as it is available.
