Judge finds probable cause to hold 'man in tree' behind bars; tree damage estimated at $7,800



SEATTLE – A King County judge on Thursday found probable cause the hold the "man in the tree' in jail for investigation of malicious mischief.

A bail hearing for Cody Lee Miller, 28, was rescheduled for Friday afternoon, when Miller declined to appear in court Thursday.

The police report filed in the case said a person complained to police on Tuesday morning that a man up in a tall sequoia tree had thrown and hit a woman with an apple in the leg.

The report said later that the man, who refused to come down from the tree, threw "rock hard pine cones" that hit passing cars and also a Seattle police officer, who was struck in the left ear, "causing a cut to the outer earlobe area."

The report also noted that the man pulled branches off the top of the tree and threw them down at officers, firefighters and pedestrians.

After the man came down from the tree nearly 24 hours later, police said, a SDOT Urban Foresty expert examined the "protected tree" and estimated the damage at about $7,800.

Police also said the man threatened to throw fecal matter at police, and that at one point he threw some to the ground.

Police said they believe they had another run-in with the man last week, during which he misidentified himself as Edward Cullen – one of the lead vampires from the “Twilight” series.

In that incident, according to a police report, the man was contacted for being in violation of the city’s “Sit and Lie” ordnance in front of a Starbucks on East Pike Street. They said when he was released from custody that day, he told police he’d considered pulling a knife and fighting them and that he wasn’t sure if that was the day he was going to die.