Bellevue police: Man refused to back down

Bellevue police said they fatally shot a man in his Eastgate-area home Monday night because he was brandishing a 14-inch kitchen knife and refusing to back down.

The 42-year-old man, who had a long arrest record and had been released from jail a few weeks ago, was fighting with family members and making threats with the knife, prompting two officers to charge into the home, police said.

Neighbors in the cul-de-sac in the 4600 block of 151st Court Southeast, south of Interstate 90, said the family's troubles with the man were long-term and well-known.

About 10 p.m. Monday, the man's mother ran across the street to neighbor Michelina Nardone. "She said, 'My son wants to kill himself,' " Nardone recounted Tuesday.

Police were called and arrived to see the man inside the home, holding a knife and struggling with a family member, said Greg Grannis, a Bellevue police spokesman.

Two officers then forced their way through a barricaded door and ordered the man several times to drop the knife, Grannis said. When he refused, at least one officer shot the man, killing him.

None of his family was injured, nor were the officers, whose names were not released.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office did not release the man's name Tuesday, saying it was still working to confirm his identity.

But neighbors said he grew up in the neighborhood and was well-known to them.

Public records show he was a high-school dropout with more than 90 arrests and convictions dating to 1990 for such offenses as theft, drug possession, burglary and assault, as well as traffic violations.

In early 2005, he served 80 days in jail for violating a domestic-violence court order that prohibited him from contacting his father.

In June 2005, Bellevue police caught him with methamphetamine during a traffic stop. He pleaded guilty to drug possession in March and was given a six-month jail term. He was released June 26.

The most recent fatal police shooting in Bellevue was in March 2006, when Officer Joseph Nault shot Paul K. Moss during a fight along Northup Way. A King County inquest jury found that Nault had reason to fear for his life.

Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259