KENT: Search for wanted felon leads to high school lockdown
Law enforcement officers throughout South King County searched on Friday for a 26-year-old man who eluded them twice.
The search for Blake Bellecourt, a convicted felon with three warrants for his arrest, prompted an overnight SWAT standoff and later a lockdown at Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way, Kent police said.
He first gave police the slip after they got a warrant for his arrest and believed he was at a west Auburn home in the 4800 block of South 288th Street. Officers conducting surveillance had spotted Bellecourt outside the home about 6 p.m. Thursday and officers surrounded the house.
Several people eventually came out of the house but not Bellecourt, police said. A SWAT team entered the home just after 4 a.m. Friday but didn’t find Bellecourt inside.
Witnesses reported seeing him leave the property shortly after 6 a.m. and called police back to the area. Officers searched the neighborhoods and local business areas. The search also prompted a short lockdown of Thomas Jefferson High.
Officers were not able to find Bellecourt and scaled back their search at 8 a.m.
stacey.mulick @thenewstribune.com
