On February 13th at approximately 2:49 A.M., West Precinct officers were dispatched to a call of “two males physically fighting inside the lobby” of a housing facility in the 100 Block of Stewart Street. As the officers were enroute to the location, there was an update from the dispatcher that a staff member had been assaulted and was injured. Another update stated that three to four males were now fighting and that one of the men had armed himself with a lamp.
The first officer to arrive at the location observed two men in front of the building fighting, one with a lamp in his hand. The officer ordered the men to stop and instructed the man with the lamp to put it down. The man did, but then he picked up the lamp and began to run back into the building. The officer again ordered the suspect to stop. At that point, the suspect stopped, dropped the lamp, and turned and attacked the officer, knocking him to the ground. Another officer arrived on the scene and the suspect immediately attacked him as well. A third officer arrived and gave chase to the suspect. The officer caught up with the man, who initially went down to the ground but then turned and began kicking the officer several times before the officer was able to take him into custody.
During the investigation it was determined that the suspect had maced, punched and kicked three individuals in the lobby prior to the 911 call. The suspect, a 26 -year old male, was transported to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. It is expected that once released, he will be booked into the King County Jail for three counts of felony assault on officers, with requests for the additional misdemeanor assaults and obstructing.
The officers sustained several injuries, but fortunately nothing life-threatening. One officer had an injury to his hip and was checked out at the hospital. The other officer received several small cuts to his face and knee, but did not require medical attention.