WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Gas-chugging suspect charged in home burglary; police release arrest video

A 40-year-old man is charged with residential burglary for a Friday break-in north of Westcrest Park at a home where a teenage girl was alone. Police released information and video from the incident today via SPD Blotter; we researched the suspect’s status and found that he’s still in jail and has been charged.

The narrative in the charging documents begins with the girl, home alone, texting her father wondering if he’d hired someone to do work at their home, because a man was trying to get in. The father subsequently called 911. In the meantime, police say, the man broke in, while the girl hid in a closet, from which she called 911 too. Officers arriving in the area were flagged down by a neighbor who said a man had been seen in the area carrying a ladder and gas can. This, the neighbor said, was on video (a frame grab from the charging documents is at right).

Police meantime went on to find a broken window at the house from which, and about which, 911 had been called, and officers forced open the door to get in. They say they found Christopher M. Abbott sitting in a car in the closed, locked garage. From there, the document says:

Abbott noticed the officers and immediately started yelling that he was not going to be taken into custody. Abbott then began chugging gasoline out of the gas container that he had with him.

Officers instructed Abbott to open the driver’s door, or they would be forced to break the window to extract him from the car. Abbott refused again and continued chugging gasoline out of the container. Due to the hazard that Abbott was creating for officers and himself, officers broke the driver’s side window of the vehicle and removed Abbott while he continually attempted to grab onto items inside of the vehicle to prevent from being extracted from the car.

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Here’s the SPD video showing their arrival at the house and apprehension of Abbott:

After they took him into custody, they found the 17-year-old girl, who came out of hiding and told officers she was unhurt. Her father arrived in the meantime and went through the house with officers to see if anything was missing, It appeared Abbott had eaten some pizza and chips; nothing else seemed to be missing. Abbott was medically evaluated at Harborview and then booked into the King County Jail. According to charging documents, he has no permanent address, and no local record, but has several convictions in Texas, mostly for domestic-violence assault. His bail is set at $20,000 and he will be arraigned next month.