(Image: SPD)
The man police say they busted with “a large amount of narcotics and cash” in plain sight in Cal Anderson Park is facing drug charges.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office has charged Hristo Tzenkov with two counts of violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act for possession of what police say was fentanyl and methamphetamine up for sale in the busy Capitol Hill park.
The Seattle Police Department says it had two officers patrolling around Cal Anderson near the intersection of E Barbara Bailey Way and Nagle Place the night of Saturday, February 15th around 6:30 PM, when they “noticed a group of individuals gathered closely together on a concrete structure in the park.”
Police say they stumbled upon a small drug market set up by the suspect:
On the lab of [Tzenkov], I observed a small clear plastic box, containing an amount of white, powdery substance. In Tzenkov’s right hand was a small clear baggie, typical of those used to package narcotics. On the concrete wall to the left of Tzenkov was a small electronic scale.
Police seized 101.9 grams of fentanyl and 8.5 grams of meth and $655 in cash. The street value of that haul could be $20,000 — or more.
“The Defendant was conducting transactions for significantly dangerous drugs,” prosecutors write. “Distribution of those narcotics is a danger to the community, not just from the direct effects of the narcotics but also from the dangerous conditions that accompany illegal drug transactions.”
Prosecutors say the 34-year-old Kirkland resident also faces pending charges in a motor vehicle theft case and has prior convictions for robbery, burglary, theft, and negligent driving. Some of his record stems from this 2019 case in which Tzenkov was shot by a medical-marijuana activist during a home robbery attempt.
Tzenkov remains booked at the Maleng Regional Justice Center on $17,575 bail. He has not yet entered a plea in the case.
HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.
Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.
