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Man Arrested For Assaulting Field Trip Chaperone

Officers arrested a 41-year-old man Thursday in the International District after he attacked another man chaperoning a class of middle-schoolers on a field trip.

The class of students–who are from a school outside of Seattle–were walking near the 700 block of  Jackson Street around 10:45 AM when the suspect approached the chaperone at the back of the group and began shouting obscenities.

When the victim confronted the suspect about his language, the suspect struck the victim in the head, knocking him to the ground.

Officers Tay Gray-McVey and Derek Sandbeck were on scene in four minutes and arrested the suspect two blocks from the scene of the incident. The suspect–a 41-year-old man who has previously been contacted by police in several crisis incidents–was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of assault. Police have asked that the case be reviewed for eligibility in King County Mental Health Court.

The 60-year-old victim, who sustained an apparent head injury in the incident, was transported by private ambulance to Harborview Medical Center.

SPD’s Violent Crimes Unit is investigating the case.