City Searchlights over Pike/Pine
posted by on July 24 at 23:37 PM
A helicopter is circling a tight circumference above my building, beaming a bright searchlight down onto East Pine and East Pike near Boren Ave. I wondered if Bauhuas was on fire and hustled outside with my laptop, but no, everything seems normal on the steets. The helicopter bears no obvious logo; probably not a news team. Lots of people are about; no one knows anything about the target of the search beam. Police cruisers are zipping back and forth, but without sirens or lights. It looks like a manhunt or vehicle hunt. One cop is stopped on Boren and E Pine with lights flashing. He’s tapping away at his dashboard computer and I’m not brazen enough to rap on his window. Beneath us on I-5 another police car and a state trooper are stopped on the exit ramp. I’m looking for can but see no potential suicidal overpass lurkers.
There’s nothing in the 911 logs besides medic responses. The helicopter has headed off into the night. Wholly mysterious. I’m going back to bed.
They were after me again. Didn't even break a sweat.
Yes.
Classic nonevent.
Not worthy of comment.
you guys are so cute getting all curious about an OMG! helicopter near downtown with it's searchlights on!!!!!
If something was going on, the real media would cover it. The Stranger has nothing to do with breaking news, leave that sort of thing to the real journalists.
Block Party this weekend! Woot! Vampire Weekend Dude!
slog
sorry, slog
That was Freedom looking in on you!
I HATE police helicopters. They're so loud and annoying, with the lights and blades. And they only ever seem to come out at night. I can sleep through sirens but not searchlights.
Bricks from the overpass
Are you sure you were in Bed, Amy Kate? Or were you throwing bricks over the overpass onto the cars??? HMMMMmm? (kidding of course)
what is with the brick reference? Did I miss a story about people throwing bricks off overpasses?
yes, some folks throwing bricks off the overpasses. PI police blog has story. I'd link but I'm on my iPod.
It's good to see Poe up there at the top of the comments. You are missed, you devil.
@1, OMG I was totez gonna type "They were after Mr. Poe."
Nice to see a little jump on the EKG line...personally, I miss your irredeemable misanthropy.
It's in the P-I.
And it's heavy shit.
OMG! That's really scary! I remember seeing something about a couple driving in the middle of nowhere and all of the sudden, this huge rock was thrown through the windshield and fell on her face. 2,000 surgeries later she is now totally deformed with brain damage. Creepy fucking shit.
Sorry but isn't being a journalist being "brazen" enough to ask a cop a question? Jeez. The lameness of this post astounds me.
I was curious since I live on Bellevue.
yikes. what kind of evil motherfucker throws bricks at cars for no reason?
I thought people in The Lou were nuts.
Amy Kate isn't a journalist and doesn't work for The Stranger, Heidi.
Once I was riding my motorcycle on the HOV off-ramp at Pike, and a block of ice fell down and shattered right in front of me, but it came from one of those weird little overpasses covered with foliage and homeless folks. I guess they might have been emptying out their cooler.
Mike In MO,
one day when my dad was on the Dan Ryan in Chicago someone threw a brick off an overpass. It bounced on his hood, went up in the air and bounced on the trunk. It was pretty freaking ridiculous.
Call me when there are bullets over Broadway.
I know someone whose car got hit by a chunk of falling concrete the size of a watermelon -- broken off, not thrown -- under one of the I-5 overpasses downtown. Lucky to be alive.
If they find the brick droppers, I think five counts of attempted murder sounds about right.
this totally happened on monday, too. my friend and i were walking back from a movie and all these police cars stopped at pine and boren and were looking over the overpass for someone/something. there seemed to be a witness with them but we couldn't figure out what was going on.
Thanks for posting, Amy Kate. This freaked me out too, and I was wondering how to find out what it was? When the helicopters circle, I react like a 'Nam vet for some reason. Usually it's just the media indulging themselves in an anti-Bush protest or pretty sunset, occasionally there's a hospital "life flite," sometimes Eddie Izzard needs to get to the airport, and from time to time they act like they're looking for an escaped convict. I didn't know where to look for the information. Online P-I police blog? Thanks. Also http://www.public911.com/911/seattle . Yes, I'm old. Get off my lawn.
Sorry, I lost my keys when Mr. Poe slipped and I grabbed his shirt collar.
Took a while to find them, but the searchlights were pretty helpful.
thank you, #3.
Thank you, Amy Kate! This kept me up the whole time they were circling and I hadn't seen anything in the news.
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