Egg throwing turns into SWAT standoff in Burien

A Burien man who allegedly threw eggs at his neighbors and then planted a fake bomb on the fence separating their properties was arrested Monday afternoon following a nearly six-hour standoff with the King County sheriff’s SWAT team and bomb unit.

Deputies “have lots of history” with the 55-year-old suspect and have responded to numerous complaints about his unusual behavior and apparent mental-health problems, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West.

The man’s neighbors, who live in the 2100 block of Southwest 154th Street, have an anti-harassment protection order against the man, who lives in a rental next door, West said.

The neighbors called 911 at 7:38 a.m.

“He was throwing eggs at the neighbor. That’s how it started and it just kind of went downhill from there,” said West.

The man barricaded himself in his home and after officers arrived, “he was making threats and said he had a bomb,” she said. Negotiators were able to communicate with the man but the SWAT team ultimately breached a couple of doors, then used a device that emits a substance like pepper spray, West said.

The man, who was not armed, exited through a second-floor window and was brought down on a ladder and placed into custody at 1:22 p.m., according to West. Investigators found “a hoax device” that had been placed on the fence that separates his house from the neighbors, she said.

The man is to be booked into the King County Jail on investigation of placement of an intimidation device, which is a felony.