Men leaving Jazz Walk carjacked at gunpoint

Updated: After a widespread search in Crown Hill, police arrested a man suspected of carjacking a BMW in Old Ballard.

A SWAT team, K9 unit and a small army of police officers helped locate the suspect hiding in a neighbor’s van near 26th and 85th just before midnight. It all began around 11 p.m. on Friday when two men were returning to their car on Shilshole Ave. near 20th after attending the Ballard Jazz Walk.

We happened to be shooting photos of a jazz performance inside the New York Fashion academy just a block away when My Ballard reader Silver tipped us to the story. One of the victims told us they were just getting into their car when a man with a gun ordered them to give up their wallets, cell phones and keys. Police were able to locate the car a short time later, sparking a short-lived pursuit that ended when the suspect rammed a fence and jumped out of the car. Police say the K9 track led officers to several parked vehicles in the driveway of a house nearby, where the suspect was hiding. After ten minutes of negotiation, officers made an arrest. Forunately, neither of the victims was injured.