Standoff in Burien ends with arrests, no injuries

King County Sheriff's deputies arrested three men believed to be involved in at least one and as many as three home invasions at an apartment complex in Burien this morning.

A woman called 911 around 6 a.m. to report that three suspects armed with a gun had broken into her apartment and stolen some cash, said Capt. Carl Cole of the King County Sheriff's Office. Deputies received unconfirmed reports that the three robbers had broken into at least two other apartments in the Veranda Green apartment complex in the 11300 block of 26th Avenue South, he said.

After the woman called 911, the three male suspects, who appeared to be in their 20s, "holed up" in a nearby apartment where an aquaintance lives, Cole said. The woman who lives in that apartment was able to escape uninjured with her four young children, he said.

A SWAT team and a hostage negotiator responded to the scene and launched pepper spray canisters through the apartment's windows, Cole said.. Two of the suspects surrendered to deputies around 11:30 a.m. About an hour later, the third suspect gave himself up, he said.

Aside from the three suspects who were "suffering from the effects of pepper spray," no one was hurt, Cole said. Though deputies believe the three men were armed, a preliminary search of the apartment didn't turn up any weapons, Cole said. It does not appear that the suspects live in the complex, he added.

A young woman, who declined to give her name, said she lives next door to the apartment where the suspects were hiding out from police. She woke up and saw deputies armed with handguns and assault rifles outside her door and was told "you need to get out," she said.

Two months ago, she said she came home from work and found her front door kicked in. Her plasma TV, a laptop computer and an Xbox video game system — "all the most valuable stuff" — had been stolen.

Another woman, who also asked not to be named, said crime in the complex is an ongoing problem.

"It's so bad up in here, it's crazy," she said.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com