The Crypticon sponsored Zombie walk this afternoon had a little more excitement than people had expected.
One of the first people to show up for the walk was someone in a very good Umbrella Corporation costume from Resident Evil. A little too good it turns out as the Seattle PD got 15 plus 9-1-1 calls about a man with a rifle walking around on Broadway.
We arrived at The Metro Clothing Co. a little early in the hope that we would be able to get some cool pictures and maybe some video before the walk started. We had seen the Umbrella Corp costumed gentleman wandering around on the block and took it as a reassuring sign that we were, in fact, in the right place. We were all inside Metro Clothing, including the guy in the costume (name withheld by request) when suddenly a small battalion of Seattle Police armed with rifles and shotguns stormed into the store. This is a startling example of the blinders we wear as geeks. We saw this guy, mentally acknowledged that it was a really cool costume and then didn’t think anything more about it. Neither of us had any clue at first what the police were doing there. In our minds there was absolutely nothing amiss and it took both of us several seconds of having the police shouting to realize what they were getting so worked up about.
Umbrella Corp. soldier with innocent bystander
Oh right. There is a guy with a gas mask carrying a rifle with grenades strapped to his jacket standing in the store.
The people in the store, including Shannon, informed them that it was a costume and tried to explain the concept of a zombie walk, but that didn’t stop the police from taking him out of the store in handcuffs and driving him down to the precinct station.
Fortunately, he was quickly released and came back to Metro Clothing to collect his well deserved first prize for best costume, a VIP pass to Crypticon next weekend.
7 Responses to “Seattle Police Dispatched to Zombie Walk”
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Ahahahahaha!! That is frickin’ hilarious!!
I got a text msg from Tresdon when it happened! I really liked your comment about the blinders we wear as geeks. That is so true.
The woman from the store said that the police did not arrest him. He confirmed this. But if he was handcuffed and taken to the station, he was definitely arrested. Did they mean to say that the police didn’t press charges?
He said that he was not arrested and just was “detained”. The cops filled out a police report, but told him that it wouldn’t be on his record. They even drove him back to the store.
If handcuffs and a ride to the police station is arresting…I’m not sure. He said he stood in a solitary cell for a couple of minutes while they did the report and talked with him. Didn’t press charges and was released.
Hope that helps!
–Shannon
My understanding is that if you’re free to go, you’re not under arrest, and if you’re under arrest, you’re not free to go. If he was not arrested, he should have wished the officers a nice day and walked away.
For lots of good information about dealing with police encounters, see the Flex Your Rights Foundation’s FAQ [1].
[1]: http://www.flexyourrights.org/frequently_asked_questions
Lets see you all in Freemont on July 3!
http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/archives/171600.asp
you can be arrested and released immediately. if your crime was not violent they have no reason to detain you.
In this circumstance, I believe that the police detained the individual for questioning, but just b/c your detained doesn’t mean your being arrested. Being held w/o reason is against the law, but if your suspected of something you can be held for 24 hours.
In this case, they pulled him off the streets so that those 15 people freaking out about his costume would feel like he was “processed” correctly. needless to say, i’m looking to emulate it.