Man injured in Belltown arrest now in critical condition

The condition of an Edmonds restaurant worker, who suffered life-threatening skull fractures last week in an incident with a King County sheriff's deputy, worsened today when he was downgraded from serious to critical condition in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Chris Harris, 29, has been in a coma on life support since he was tackled by a deputy in Belltown on May 10 and hit his head against a concrete wall.

A witness wrongly identified Harris as a suspect in an earlier assault and Harris ran from two deputies, both assigned to Metro Transit, possibly because he didn't realize they were police officers.

A surveillance camera outside the Cinerama movie theater at Lenora Street and Fourth Avenue captured footage of the incident between Harris and Deputy Matthew Paul, 26, but the video has not yet been made public.

Just before 3 p.m. today, Harborview spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hansen confirmed that Harris is now listed in critical condition.