POLICE GET STUNG DURING DRUG STING

The undercover detectives' plan is simple and often-repeated: They give a
drug dealer $750 for an ounce of cocaine, then record the sale as they
build a case to bust him.

But the sting at a Des Moines strip mall Friday night quickly fell apart
when the drug dealer pulled a pistol on an undercover officer from Redmond
and ran off with the money, police said.

Yesterday, police were still looking for the pistol-toting Tacoma man,
though three of his alleged accomplices had been rounded up and were behind
bars.

"It certainly didn't go according to plan, but it was fortunate no one got
hurt," Bellevue police spokeswoman Marcia Harnden said. "This is why this
line of work is so dangerous."

The drug sting was part of an investigation by the Eastside Narcotics Task
Force of a case that started on the Eastside. The task force, made up of
detectives from several agencies, has permission to go to other communities
to work on cases.

The Redmond detective, who has been on the force for three years and with
the task force for 18 months, went to meet the 25-year-old Tacoma man and
another man at the mall parking lot at South 272nd Street and Pacific
Highway South.

Other detectives hid nearby, where they could see the deal going down.

But before the purchase was made, the Tacoma man pulled his pistol,
demanding the money. The detective threw the money at the gunman's feet and
let him pick it up. Then he identified himself as a police officer and
tried to arrest him.

Instead, the man and his partner ran.

Police say they caught the partner in a car with two other accomplices, a
man and a woman. But the Tacoma man kept running, and police gave up the
chase as he crossed into Federal Way.

Detectives found about half of the $750 on the man they caught. They assume
the Tacoma man got the rest.

Meantime, police have a warrant out for the man, who has a lengthy record.

And while the drug investigation may have crumbled, detectives have a
bigger case now, Harnden said.

"I think he should be more worried about a robbery charge at this point
than the drug charge," Harnden said. "He has really upped the stakes."