West Seattle Crime Watch: Student attacked after getting off a bus

| Crime | Highland Park | West Seattle news

We finally have some information on the assault case that brought police to 15th/16th/Elmgrove/Kenyon and vicinity this morning: The reader report is from Hilari:

Today just after 11 a.m., my nephew got on the 128 at South Seattle College to return home from classes. He sat in the back of the bus and noticed a man staring at him. He didn’t think much of it in the moment.

He exited the bus at 16th SW and Kenyon. The man who had been staring at him exited just after.

Once on the sidewalk, the man approached my nephew and asked him if he wanted to get “knocked out.” Before my nephew could respond, the man punched him hard across the face and then proceeded to walk briskly south on 16th SW.

A construction worker nearby called 911. Fire and police came. My nephew’s nose isn’t broken, but he was pretty freaked out by all of the blood. Police tried to find the suspect but were unsuccessful. A case # has been filed, and I am hoping that bus cameras will be used to identify the man exiting the bus.

He was African American, mid-20s, wearing a gray beanie and either a gray or navy hoodie. He was about 5’10” or 5’11”.

If you have any information for police, the case to refer to, per Tweets by Beat, is 16-008602.

Q January 8, 2016 (3:34 pm)

Hopefully metro is willing to help in this case. Last year when one of their bus drivers ran a red and hit me in a marked crosswalk they refused to provide any video of the incident and I’m stuck with thousands in medical bills with no recourse.

Seattlite January 8, 2016 (4:01 pm)

I hope SPD catches this a$$hole, locks him up and then put his photo out there so we all can see what this jerk looks like. I hope the victim heals quickly both physically and emotionally.

low bridge January 8, 2016 (4:31 pm)

Will Metro have video of the guy getting on the bus?

WSB January 8, 2016 (4:35 pm)

Not all buses have cameras.

me January 8, 2016 (4:43 pm)

That’s insane!

Melissa January 8, 2016 (5:01 pm)

Does anyone know how metro determines which buses have cameras?

zark00 January 8, 2016 (5:02 pm)

It’s unlikely this piece of garbage was riding that bus/route for the first and only time.
Put a cop on the route for a day or two, I bet they’ll find him.
Scary attack, I feel horrible for that kid.

David January 8, 2016 (5:06 pm)

I hope Metro investigates this. And as a whole they need to seriously overhaul their security too. There should be armed officers and/or fare enforcers on every single bus route every day, especially the RapidRide lines which are easy for moochers to get on for free through the back doors during RapidRide hours. Don’t want to fund that? Then don’t complain about people staying in their old habits of driving their cars, because in their cars at least they’re safe from these violent lunatics. I can’t think of the last time I rode a bus without some psycho muttering to themselves about some nonsense like killing cops, or harassing other innocent passengers just trying to ride the bus in peace. Since not much, if anything, ever seems to be done about unruly passengers, I’ve made it a personal vow to from now on tell the bus driver about every single one of these passengers I encounter, and if they don’t do anything about, call the police myself. There was a disturbing bus ride I had recently that finally pushed me over the edge, and I regret not starting my plan that day. Citizens actually have a lot of control over things, but unfortunately don’t seem to realize it, and instead just sit there taking the crap from these creeps. If everyone practiced this reporting, I guarantee the phones would be ringing off the hook all day long at SPD, and maybe then something would actually start to be done about it. Anyway, I hope the man who was assaulted heals quickly and doesn’t fear riding the bus in the future. Buses and public transit are excellent for cities and societies, as long as the ones operating them keep the garbage off of them. As for the one that committed the crime, I hope a jail cell in our already overcrowded prison system isn’t wasted and that he just gets killed in an altercation with police when they catch up to him. Think of your city as your home. In your home do you lock all of your garbage in a closet forever, or do you dispose of it?

Reason January 8, 2016 (5:52 pm)

@David
I’d rather see those funds go to treating mental illness and preventing some problems rather than just having armed guards around so that when someone is “muttering to themselves” we can make the problems worse by introducing weapons to the scenario. That’s just me, though.
.
I wish your nephew a speedy recovery and hope that they find the guy sooner than later, before anything else happens.

chemist January 8, 2016 (6:49 pm)

David, I usually don’t board the RR at the front because I tap my orca card on the kiosk when I see the bus arriving. You’re right that it makes “mooching” easier, but it also makes the bus’ time stopped a lot less.

Bradley January 8, 2016 (7:32 pm)

@Reason: Wow. Just, wow.

Pilsner January 8, 2016 (7:51 pm)

Pretty crazy!!!! I hope if i witnessed such an event that i would be able to help. But at the same time, many altercations have deep back stories that i wouldnt know about, and i may be comming to the aid of a criminal.

David, i have had lighter comments than that deleted.Your out there man.

Miranda January 8, 2016 (8:32 pm)

When I was in Vancouver, BC a few years ago, a schizophrenic man probably off his meds had punched a young man in Gastown. The young man victim worked with mentally ill patients on his job. So he, the victim was really cool, even with the bloody nose. I intervened, pulling on the schizophrenic’s jacket, distracting him. Clearly he thought the victim was demonic, felt he needed to “be stopped”. This WSB report reminded me of that incident.
Did you know marijuana increases the risk of schizophrenia?