Teens arrested after man

thwarts burglary at home

February 7-Four teenage burglars had a bad day.

First, said King County Sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart, the owner of the home they were burglarizing returned and chased them out of his house at gunpoint.

Two of the burglars were caught by police within minutes.

The other two were caught after the area was flooded with King County Sheriff's deputies, Burien officers and Guardian One - the sheriff's helicopter.

The incident began when a man returned to his home in the 16400 block of Ambaum Blvd. S. after walking his dog and found a burglar in his kitchen. As the suspect ran for the front door, he was joined by his three co-conspirators fleeing from various areas of the house.

The homeowner retrieved his handgun and chased them outside.

A passerby saw the fleeing suspects and pointed out the direction they fled to the homeowner and arriving deputies, Urquhart said. Plain-clothes detectives coming into the area spotted two of the four and promptly arrested them.

As the search for the other two suspects continued, the sheriff's office received a call from a man in Mt. Vernon who said his teenage son had just called him and breathlessly related: "The cops are looking for me ... and they've got a helicopter!"

When workers at a nearby townhouse spotted the two fugitives skulking along a fence line, deputies converged and took them into custody without incident, Urquhart added.

The suspects, ages 14, 14, 16 and 17, from Burien, Mill Creek and Seattle, were booked into the Youth Service Center (Juvenile Hall) for Investigation of Burglary.

Accident injures deputy

while responding to call

February 2-A King County Sheriff's deputy suffered minor injuries in a 4 p.m. accident while responding to an emergency call.

The deputy was northbound in his patrol car on First Avenue South with lights and sirens activated when another vehicle swerved in front of his cruiser, causing him to crash into some parked cars.

The investigation caused the closure of First Avenue between South142nd and South 138th streets until 7 p.m.

Compiled by Ralph Nichols