Body cam shows stalker being arrested outside of Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal home
By: Fear and concern can be heard in Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal’s voice as she called 911 to report a man on her doorstep threatening her. KOMO News received those recordings Friday, as well as police body camera footage of the arrest last summer.
During the call for help on July 9, 2022, Jayapal can be heard telling the dispatcher that a man kept showing up at her home threatening to kill her. She warned the dispatcher that it sounded like the man had fired a weapon, possibly a pellet gun, and was outside at that very moment screaming profanities.
"We have people at the front door who have been harassing us," Jayapal can be heard saying on the 911 recording. “He shot something. I don't know what it is."
The 911 call is more than 12 minutes long. Jayapal told the dispatcher she and her husband had seen more than one person outside their home making threats in recent weeks.
“They were screaming at us. This is the third time it's happened in about a month," Jayapal said in the recording. “We think he's on the front porch. He tried to jiggle the doorknob."
Jayapal and her husband told the dispatcher they were staying on the upper floor of the house for safety.
Body camera footage shows several Seattle police officers pull up to find the man standing in the street with his hands in the air, and a holstered pistol on his hip.
Officers had the man walk backward toward them and took him into custody without incident.
"I'm homeless. I'm mentally ill,” the man can be heard saying in the police body camera footage.
He told police he planned to camp outside Jayapal's home, and officers found a collapsed tent on the ground nearby.
The man police arrested was later identified as Brett Forsell. He has since been charged with felony stalking. His trial is scheduled to begin next month.