Man stole passenger ferry because he wanted to go to West Seattle

A man was taken into custody on Sunday morning after the Clipper IV, a  high-speed 132-foot catamaran with a water-jet propulsion system, was taken from its mooring and out into Elliott Bay. Darrell Bryan, president and chief executive officer of Clipper Vacations, was in his office and saw the boat leaving.



"I looked out my window - I'm not normally here on Sunday mornings - but I got here about 5:20 and about 6 o'clock I saw the Clipper IV 100 feet off the dock, headed in a southerly direction and we didn't have it scheduled to sail today," he said. "We identified pretty quickly that all our captains were accounted for and that somebody had taken the boat and so we contacted the Coast Guard."



When a tugboat went to retrieve the boat they discovered there was a man on board and Seattle Police were called. SPD’s SWAT, patrol and Arson Bomb Squad responded, along with Port of Seattle police and US Coast Guard boat and helicopter teams. Police negotiators contacted the man on the boat and several hours later a tactical team boarded the vessel and arrested the suspect.


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The man, Samuel K. McDonough, 33, told police he “only wanted to go to West Seattle.” McDonough was booked into the King County Jail on Sunday afternoon for investigation of burglary, reckless endangerment, malicious mischief and an outstanding warrant for failure to register as a sex offender. In February 2012, McDonough was convicted of felony indecent exposure in Issaquah after he tried to break into a drive-through coffee stand, then masturbated in front of two female baristas inside.