Trying to outrun police, man jumps from scaffolding

A man who led police on a foot chase in downtown Seattle this morning was taken to Harborview Medical Center after jumping 40 feet from construction scaffolding near Pike Place Market, police said.

Just after 10 a.m., two bicycle officers stopped a man at Second Avenue and Pike Street because he was acting suspiciously, said police spokesman Sean Whitcomb. The officers quickly discovered that a warrant for second-degree assault had been issued for the man and tried to arrest him, he said.

After a brief struggle with the officers, the man broke free, running through Pike Place Market and then south through Post Alley, Whitcomb said. At a nearby construction site, the man tried to escape the pursuing officers by climbing some scaffolding.

With the nearest officer 25 feet behind him, the man jumped from the scaffolding, falling about 40 feet in the 1300 block of Western Avenue, Whitcomb said. Homicide detectives are investigating the incident, which is routine when a suspect is injured during a police pursuit, he said.

Medics were called and found a man in his 30s lying on a concrete slab, said Capt. Reba Gonzales of the Seattle Fire Department. The man fractured both ankles, was complaining of back pain and may have suffered internal injuries, she said.