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SWAT surrounds home in Juanita, felon found elsewhere Neighbors held at bay for hours while KPD secured area
A SWAT team member stands by outside a Kirkland home on Monday as police search for a convicted felon who assaulted a man. DAVID
BY CARRIE WOOD cwood@kirklandreporter.com
T
he Kirkland SWAT team surrounded a home in Kirkland’s Juanita neighborhood all day Monday where police believed an armed convicted felon was hiding inside a crawl space.
SKURNIK, Contributed
However, Snohomish County deputies later found the suspect in a second location and arrested him on Monday. The convicted felon was involved in an altercation outside the Kirkland residence – in the 13300 block of 105th Ave. N.E. – late
Cross Kirkland commute?
Kirkland resident John Eineigl invented what he calls a rail-bike that he rides along the old Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, now known as the Cross Kirkland Corridor. He hopes his contraption will incite others to think about ways to use the rail. CONTRIBUTED
Tree destroys condos, elderly couple barely escapes dinner-time disaster BY MATT PHELPS mphelps@kirklandreporter.com
The Village resident David Hart said he heard and felt a thump at about 6:15 p.m. June 7. “I knew exactly what it was,” said Hart. “I knew it would come down at some point.” When he ran outside of his condo he became wor-
ried. Two gigantic trees, one a 100-foot cottonwood, had crashed through a neighboring condo building and Hart thought the worst. He rushed into the building to look for his neighbors. “I was the first one up there,” said Hart. “Having seen the pictures of the inside of that apartment I am surprised that they walked
out of the building.” An elderly couple had just finished their dinner when the tree came through the dining room window at The Village located in the 9800 block of Northeast 124th Street in Juanita. The man and woman were taken to Evergreen Hospital for observation. “He seemed to be in
shock,” said property manager Linda Reoh. “When I saw all the aid cars here I thought we would be dealing with a much more serious accident.” Both elderly victims are now staying with relatives, according to Hart, and have minor injuries. The apartment on the other hand will have to be rebuilt. “The building has been condemned,” said Reoh. “The whole top will have to come off … The one tree took out two more trees and then landed on the [ more TREE page 3 ]
Sunday night, said Sgt. Rob Saloum, a Kirkland Police Department spokesperson. The suspect hit the victim’s head with a handgun that discharged, but did not strike anyone, said Saloum. “We’re not sure what the origin of the dispute was or why the parties were
together,” said Saloum, adding he didn’t know if the suspect lives at the home, but the man does know the victim. “The victim went to the hospital and called us.” The KPD got a search warrant and the SWAT team was on scene, along with a Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT), all day Monday. [ more SWAT page 3 ]
Resident constructs ‘rail-bike’ to incite others to think about ways to use the Cross Kirkland Corridor BY CARRIE WOOD cwood@kirklandreporter.com
Many residents have used the railroad corridor that runs north to south through the center of Kirkland for walking to nearby schools or businesses. Others have enjoyed the views of Lake Washington along the old Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway on a mountain bicycle. But John Eineigl has stepped off the beaten path and is enjoying the corridor much differently than most. Last fall, he created out of common parts and materials what he refers to as a rail-bike – “a vehicle for those reclaimed rails that aren’t yet trails.” The bike, affixed to his wooden contraption with wheels, glides over the old
tracks much like a train, only it moves a lot slower, he says. “It really works,” said Eineigl. “I can travel about half the speed I can with the bike alone.” He built the rail-bike as a working prototype that gets people thinking about what to do with all the unused rail beds, he said. How does Eineigl think the city should develop the Cross Kirkland Corridor? “I am in favor of keeping the rail corridor intact for future light-rail use,” he said. “Once the right-of-way is gone, getting it back is very difficult. Look at the issues Bellevue is having over routing a new route through neighborhoods.” He said whichever path is [ more RAIL page 3 ]
A 100-foot cottonwood tree fell on this Juanita condo on June 7. An elderly couple was eating dinner when the tree smashed through the window and then the roof. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO