Seattle police are investigating an incident Monday afternoon in which officers opened fire as a suspected car prowler's vehicle sped away from them.

The suspect, Jason Scott Sims, 36, described in a previous court case as a "prolific vehicle prowler" with multiple criminal convictions, was not hit by the gunfire but was arrested a short time later.

About 1:40 p.m., two officers on bicycles, who were working at the Bumbershoot festival at Seattle Center, saw a man exiting a broken car window in a parking lot near Taylor Avenue North and Denny Way, according to police spokesman Detective Jeff Kappel.

Suspecting the man had prowled the vehicle, the officers approached the man, but he got into a Dodge Durango and sped off. The man's "driving behavior posed an imminent threat to one of the officers, causing both officers to fire their Department-issued handguns," Kappel said in a statement Monday night.

Kappel did not say how the man's driving posed a threat or if the vehicle was driven toward the officers, but he said the shots struck the vehicle.

Police on Tuesday identified the officers as Christopher Bowling, 47, a 22-year veteran, and Eric Daylong, 47, an 11-year veteran.

It was not immediately clear which officer faced a threat from the Durango.

Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, chief spokesman for the department, said that no further details would be provided on the nature of the threat pending interviews with the officers.

After the confrontation in the parking lot, the man drove to a parking lot at Seventh Avenue and Bell Street, near the Hurricane Cafe, where he left the Durango and took off on foot, Kappel said. Police chased him on their bicycles. He was arrested near Ninth Avenue and Blanchard Street.

Sims was booked into King County Jail on investigation of assault of a law enforcement officer and on a warrant for malicious mischief.

According to court records, an arrest warrant with $30,000 bail was issued for Sims in May 2011 on a charge of second-degree malicious mischief, stemming from the prowling of a pickup in Seattle that caused more than $1,000 in damage.

In asking for the bail, prosecutors noted that Sims had been booked into the King County Jail 40 times since 1994 and that 49 warrants had been issued for his arrest.

His felony record includes convictions for theft, malicious mischief, driving without a license, vehicle prowling and possession of stolen property, according to court records.

Sims pleaded guilty in one of those cases to prowling a motor home in Seattle Center, according to court records.

Among Sims' misdemeanor convictions are driving violations, malicious mischief, vehicle prowling, obstructing a public officer, making false statements to a public servant and hit-and-run of an unattended vehicle, court records show.

In Monday's incident, the officers' decision to fire at a moving vehicle is governed by the Police Department's Policy and Procedure Manual.

It says officers may open fire on a moving vehicle or its occupants if the "vehicle poses an imminent and ongoing threat of substantial physical harm to the officer or another person from which there is no reasonable means to escape ... "

Kappel said the officers will be placed on paid leave, normal in an officer-involved shooting, pending a firearms-board review.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com.

Seattle Times staff reporter Craig Welch and news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report, which includes information from The Associated Press.