State Patrol trooper Tasers disturbed woman on I-90 bridge

A trooper used his Taser on a Seattle woman who became hostile after she was stopped for walking along the fog line on the westbound Interstate 90 bridge this morning.

The 37-year-old woman was walking along the stretch between Mercer Island and downtown Seattle at about 6:30 a.m., causing cars to swerve around her, said State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill.

When a responding trooper located the woman, she hopped into the pedestrian lane on the bridge. As he tried to warn her to stay out of traffic lanes, she jumped back into the right lane of the road and began screaming and swearing, Merrill said. He told her to stop but she got even more aggressive, he said.

She tried to charge him but did not make physical contact. The trooper used his Taser twice on the woman, trying to avoid a physical fight, said Merrill.

"It's a last resort before you have to go hands on," he said.

The woman, who was uninjured, was taken to Harborview Medical Center for a psychological evaluation.

Christina Siderius: csiderius@seattletimes.com