Police make arrest in Ken Griffey Jr. statue vandalism case

A statue of Ken Griffey Jr. that was recently unveiled outside Safeco Field in Seattle was vandalized on Tuesday evening, and police believe they have caught the man responsible for defacing it.

The statue, which depicts Griffey’s iconic swing, had the bat stolen from it sometime around 5 p.m. on Tuesday. After several witnesses called police to report that the statue was being vandalized, officers arrived and were able to locate a male suspect. Here are the details from the Seattle Police Department blotter:

The suspect, an adult male, had managed to break loose the baseball bat from the statue. Officers arrived and located the suspect a short distance away. The suspect was taken into custody without incident, and the bat was recovered near the statue.

Officers returned the bat to Safeco security personnel. The suspect was later booked into the King County Jail for investigation of malicious mischief, a felony. Detectives will handle the follow up investigation.

Griffey hit 630 home runs during his 22-year MLB career, which began and ended with the Mariners. Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have seen an iconic baseball statue vandalized, and there have even been some instances where worse things were done. Luckily, it sounds like police were able to track down the perpetrator.