Renton Suspends Further Action On Search Warrant

Editor's Note: The Original headline read, "Renton Drops Criminal Charges Against Cyber Video Artist," which was incorrect. In fact, the city had never filed criminal charges against anyone related to the cyberstalking investigation, and therefore could not drop criminal charges. Patch regrets the error.

The City of Renton announced today that it has decided to suspend further action on the search warrant that spurred the hunt to uncover the identity of a cartoon artist who produced a series of mocking cartoon parody videos.

"There has been no relevant information that we have uncovered to date on the Cyberstalking case to further a criminal investigation. As a result we have decided to forgo any action on the search warrant," said City Administrator Jay Covington in a press conference Thursday afternoon.

The city will now turn the search inward with an internal investigation to uncover the identity of the artist and take disciplinary action against the individual.

"We believe that the person who created and posted these videos is a current police officer ... and it is our duty to protect those who might have been harassed," Covington said.

The city maintains that the issue has nothing to do with the violation of First Amendment rights.

Since this story, Patch had the opportunity to sit down with City officials for a Q & A. Read it .