King County prosecutors Thursday charged a 38-year-old man with trying to abduct a barista through an Auburn drive-thru window earlier in the week.
Matthew Darnell is charged with attempted second-degree kidnapping in the incident early Monday at Beankini Espresso, a bikini barista stand on Auburn Way North, according to court documents.
Darnell arrived at the stand around 5 a.m., expecting few, if any, customers, court documents say.
He was captured on surveillance video trying to put a looped zip tie over the barista's head in an attempt to drag her out of a drive-thru window and into his pickup while she handed him change, according to court documents. But the woman managed to get out of his grip, close the window and call police, the documents say.
Darnell "carefully chose" the barista, who's at least 200 pounds lighter than him and was working alone, as his target, according to probable cause documents.
Prosecutors said they don't know why Darnell tried to abduct the woman.
Law enforcement officials were able to track Darnell's truck on traffic cameras as he left the business, according to court documents. The suspect, later identified as Darnell, also had a large tattoo on his forearm and a visible side-profile as seen on video, police said.
Police went to Darnell's residence Tuesday. He stated he wanted to turn himself in and allowed officials to search his truck, where they found a looped zip tie that matched the size and width of the one seen in the video, according to probable cause documents. Darnell was arrested the same day.
Police then served a search warrant at Darnell's residence Wednesday and found a bundle of zip ties in his bedroom, according to probable cause documents.
Law enforcement also served a warrant for Darnell's phone Wednesday. Police were not done reviewing the phone's contents Thursday.
Darnell's bail was set at $500,000. He was prohibited from contacting the barista and going to Beankini Espresso.
