Shoreline Detective Cary Coblantz honored on Washington's Most Wanted

From left, Host David Rose, Deputy Coblantz
and Sheriff John Urquhart

Shoreline Police Officer Cary Coblantz, a Detective in the burglary / larceny unit, and King County Officer of the Month,

 was recently honored on Q13's Washington's Most Wanted.

By David Rose, Host of Washington's Most Wanted

King County Sheriff’s detective Cary Coblantz was honored for his dedication and work catching a dangerous Washington’s Most Wanted fugitive.

It wasn’t a viewer tip that helped catch Mallory “Bugs” Gholson, it was the sharp eyes of Coblantz.

“It was a Saturday morning, afternoon, I was working the uniform patrol in Shoreline and I was looking for a different domestic violence suspect who might be staying at the Shoreline Motel. While I was doing an area check looking for that person, I came across a vehicle that was associated with Mallory,” Coblantz said.

Gholson has a history of assault, burglary and drugs and was wanted for a new case by Seattle officer Randy Maxwell.

“Officer Maxwell is a good friend of mine, and a superstar for the Seattle Police Department. We work hand in hand and we do fugitive apprehension together for the most part when bad guys cross jurisdictional lines.”

Gholson is known for leaving a wake of victims behind – and he didn’t want to come out of the motel room.

“Based on his history, we did try the easy route of him giving him up. He chose not to, barricaded himself. We initiated a SWAT team call-out. After about a half hour of negotiations, we were able to talk him out and took him into custody without incident,” Coblantz said.

“Well, first of all, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. I’ve known Cary a long time. I know the kind of cases he puts together. He’s a dogged detective and that’s why he does such a good job,” Sheriff John Urquhart said.

Urquhart said he wishes he had a 100 detectives like Coblantz.

“Cary works with other agencies. You’ve heard him talk about that. The Seattle Police Department, the Edmonds Police Department — that’s real teamwork. He’s not looking for all the credit. He’s trying to help them make their cases as well and that’s tremendous.”

“Guys like that, it’s always important for me try to do everything I can to catch them and not just catch them, but present a good case and hold them accountable,” Coblantz said.

See the program video here