Local News

A man who was recently linked by DNA to the slaying of a 19-year-old Bellevue woman in 1980 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder this morning in King County Superior Court. Michael Halgren, 58, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for strangling Susan Lowe in her apartment with a pair of pantyhose. Despite a reward, the case went cold until 2012, when…

Police officers know the rules to enforce — and the ones that don’t apply to them. A local resident questioned the Bellevue Police Department on Friday night after seeing an officer talking on a cellphone while driving. In a Twitter post, the person suggested an officer was breaking the state law that restricts cellphone use in vehicles. The…

Update 4:30 p.m.: Bellevue police say the Carnation truck driver who struck and killed a pedestrian this afternoon was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The driver, who is described only as a man in his mid-50s, was turning west from 124th Avenue Northeast onto Northeast 12th Street when he struck the woman. She has not been identified by police. The…

Police arrested an on-duty King County Sheriff’s deputy Tuesday night after a citizen called to report the deputy passed out in his parked patrol car in Newcastle. The incident occurred about 9:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a Starbucks near Newcastle Way and Coal Creek Parkway.  The citizen called 911 to report finding the deputy hunched over the steering wheel of his marked police…

Weather:  Quite nice, with highs in the 40s again. Elderly Bellevue woman missing: Police are asking for help in finding an 89-year-old woman who went missing Friday. Here’s more on her description and where she might have been Friday. Judge strikes down part of SeaTac minimum-wage measure: Less than a week before a $15 minimum wage…

Update: Missing Bellevue woman Patricia Thomas, 89, was found safe and unharmed about 1 p.m. today by Des Moines police. A citizen spotted Thomas driving in Des Moines, according to Bellevue police, and recognized her vehicle and license plate from news reports. Police confirmed her identity. Thomas was apparently confused about what city she was in and didn’t…

Bellevue police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found near the 11700 block of Northeast 12th Street. Foul play is not suspected. Someone called 911 just before 2:30 p.m. Thursday and police located the man’s body beneath Northeast 12th Street, close to some train tracks, Officer Seth Tyler said in a news release. Cold weather may…

Update| 1:43 p.m. Bellevue police report the man and his two children who went missing Friday night have been found safe today. The infant twin boys are back with their mother while the 26-year-old father was taken to a hospital for mental evaluation. Earlier, we reported that Bellevue police were asking for the public’s help in locating the Bellevue man and his sons. Laura…

A 29-year-old motorcyclist was killed in Bellevue tonight when he was hit by a car whose driver is suspected of drunken driving, Bellevue police said. Bystanders attempted to resuscitate the motorcyclist at the scene before medics took him to Overlake Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Bellevue police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate said. The crash happened around 6 p.m. at…

Two Seattle cousins accused of hiring an undercover police officer to attack, and possibly kill, the girlfriend of one of the suspects will appear before a judge for a bail hearing this afternoon. According to Bellevue police and law enforcement sources, the men, ages 39 and 23, were arrested Wednesday for investigation of conspiracy and solicitation of assault in the first-degree. Eastside Narcotics…