This picture was taken before the Columbia Tower, and I have a compelling memory of this place. A year before, 1979, seven felons escaped from the King county Jail, a block to the south. A stolen Ford Mustang with two of them were stopped here by Officers Randy Benson and his partner Frankie Alexander. While arresting the two suspects and handcuffing them, a second Ford Mustang slowly drove by the officers and ambushed them, shooting Alexander twice in the chest. Meanwhile, the ringleader escaped and ran up the hill and circled back into the parking lot above, which provided an overlook of the rooftop parking here, possibly for another ambush. Off-duty officer John Maddox saw what was happening, followed the leader and held him at gunpoint until I could assist him with the arrest.Maddox was new, in plain clothes, and was worried that other officers might mistake him for one of the bad guys. His heroic actions probably saved my life and others, as I drove right into the scene. Just above where the Volkswagen is positioned on the hill, Police Officer Frankie Alexander lay in the street on his side, next to his patrol car, bleeding severely from his wounds. Eventually, all suspects were caught (some wounded or killed) and Frankie recovered from his wounds. Contrary to what the History page says, he did not return to duty with the police department. In the following years, Officer John Maddox succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, one more block up the hill from here. See link: historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=4172
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 06:34:31 +0000
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