Sorry this happened. Get better soon.

Hope we get the assailant.

Glad he's ok. This neighborhood scares me now, for the first time in my 22 years here. I'll be leaving it soon.

It's often natural if there's some creep talking shit to you to tell them to fuck off. I think the last time I did that (at night, too), I realized that you don't know what the hell they might do. So I'm lucky, I think, that they didn't try to come after me. Now I just try to ignore them, walk clear (try not to be between them and a wall or a parking meter), and walk on by.

Would be useful if you posted the description including clothing etc etc. The guy is most likely a local weirdo.

Terrible! Enough of this! I'm glad he's okay, but this is happening way too much (even once is too much).

What happened to the resurrection of Q Patrol on the Hill? I thought that we were going to start having a community-based patrol group like we used have years ago. Did anything come of that?

That sucks, Bret. I've had that happen. It makes you feel humiliated and angry and sad all the same time.

After years of both boxing and bouncing (dealing with nuts and drunks) I learned that if you end up in a confrontation always keep moving and asking distracting questions. Not loud, or erratic, or threatening. Just walk casually and calmly as you can muster. Best in widening circles around them (usually to the left since most people are right handed). Never stand still and plant yourself. Never walk backwards since people can rush you while you're on your heels. And of course never turn your back. Any way to prevent them getting a bead on you.

I get the the police are busy, but this was ONE BLOCK away from the Police station. It is absurd that people are getting beat up and having their phones snatched right next to the station. Can they at least have someone look out the window sometimes?

@7 I agree. A cop up high in a lifeguard chair at 11th and Pine with a megaphone would do more to curb street crime in this area than any other reforms.

Ah geez, my condolences Mr. Fetzer. I hope InsaneGuy gets picked up.

Tkc @6 has some great advice, and droctopu5 @8 is right.

Why are there STILL no beat cops walking around Pike/Pine at night? Considering all the violence that comes to blows is one dramatic thing, but my wife and other women have been boob- & butt-grabbed by douchebros walking amongst the nightlight far, far too frequently.

A couple of visible officers would go a huge distance to keeping these dick-brained, entitled sacs a little more self-restrained.

Seems like every other week there is a report of an attack or a strong arm robbery or major property destruction just 1 or two blocks from the precinct station. How are the police okay with that? Aren't they embarrassed? They should be. Maybe if they didn't spend all their time worrying about protesters or old men who are peacefully walking down the sidewalk...

Bret Fetzer is a goddamned national treasure. I'm horrified this happened and hope he makes a speedy recovery.

Even though I am generally quite aware of my surroundings, I know I've gotten lazy about checking my phone on the street - particularly for bus times. This is a good reminder to stay more alert when I'm out.

This seems to have little in common with the newly-typical issues with douchebros and muggers. Instead of wondering where the cops were, a good question would be - when we as a community see someone ranting and raving, do we make any effort to get help BEFORE that person becomes violent? Do we walk the 1 block to the precinct to ask officers to check this guy out? I don't, I keep walking and am glad that I get home without any problems. SPD foot patrols would definitely help, but a bigger sense of community would also help, as there is no guarantee that a foot patrol would have been in the right place and the right time to prevent this. This incident makes me realize that the next time I pass by some unpredictable lunatic, it's not only my skin at risk.

@9: No kidding. Wouldn't that be an easy and constructive way to, oh say, build some goodwill in the community? Not to mention prevent wonderful people like Bret from getting assaulted.

@10- " How are the police okay with that? Aren't they embarrassed?"

Why would they be. The victims are all Obama voting blacks, gays, and/or liberals. You know, the enemy.

@7 Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Pike-Pine is insufferable and insane now. It's worse than Pioneer Square or Belltown ever were. Very, very rarely do you see a cop. After 2am? NEVER. Maybe a couple of bike cops. Which frankly are kind of useless. You need cops on foot walking through the bars. Like you see in Gas Town in Vancouver.

I've been living and working in this neighborhood for nearly 25 years. I've been walking to work everyday for over a decade and a half, rain or shine. There used to be more gay bashings and simple assaults on the hill - spread out. But very rarely guys with guns or knives. Very rarely brazen muggins. Now it's dangerous as fuck and all happening with in four blocks of the police station. What does that tell you?

In the last seven years from Cal Anderson on I regularly get hassled or see somebody else hassled, or see out of control drunks, fights, dealers and brazenly open criminals. I can handle myself but my wife walks through this neighborhood, too.

I brace myself every day. I've had two mugging attempts, two frothing screaming lunatics come at me, and stopped a guy from killing himself. In the last three years alone I've been in two fist fights with belligerent bullies in broad daylight right outside Petirosso with me in my suit and tie just trying to eat my lunch and no cop in sight.

The number of times I've seen foot patrols in the park or Pike-Pine in that time I can count on one hand. I've walked up to cops and told them there is a fight or there is guy hassling women or - GET THIS - I walked into the precinct to tell them about the Neighbors arsonist and they told me to LEAVE and call the arson unit. I knew who it was. I had evidence. And the desk sergeant told me to go away without taking my name or anything.

I'm fed up. I fight back now. I don't even bother calling the cops anymore.

My partner and I were walking near Broadway after the Super Bowl. He had had a few drinks, and I was walking behind him and a couple of well-dressed 20-something guys because I had dropped something. One of the guys nudges his friend and points to my partner, starts to mimic his drunk walk, and they start getting way too close to him. I rushed up and bitched them both out, and they were all, "U mad? Some people get so mad for no reason" -- total dicks. I wish these entitled creeps would stay out of our neighborhood. They make Pike/Pine unnavigable on weekends.

I think it's time to start naming and shaming the bars and clubs in the area that are the source of all this... in 20+ years of living and going out on the Hill, i've never experienced anything like what's going on now. In my younger days my friends and I used to walk all over the neighborhood at all hours, and never had a problem. The last time I went out on Pike/Pine, I was appalled, and quite honestly scared. There is an edgy vibe now, and not in a good way. A threatening vibe. Too many people who are way too intoxicated and itching for a fight. Capitol Hill has always had a homeless/street person/tweaker/junky population, but for the most part I never had issues with them. Something has changed - now there's the weekend influx of douchebros and woo girls, who consider the evening street brawl a part of the fun. The indigent population has become more aggressive, and the constant muggings, even in broad daylight, are nuts. But the biggest problem are the clubs and bars actively drawing people who come in to get trashed, and who then trash the neighborhood and leave. And all of this going on with the police station a couple of blocks away. I give huge props to Barbie at Purr and other neighborhood bar/club owners for trying to engage SPD and the city on this, and to return the hood to the safe, fun place it used to be. But there are clearly a couple of clubs and bars (Q and Grim's, I'M FUCKING LOOKING AT YOU) who actively try to attract these assholes that are making things miserable for the rest of us.

This is why I pack my Glock... Kidding!

Dear Bret, you are so beloved in this tawdry town of ours. You have made it a better place!... I wish you a speedy recovery, and thank God that you were not hit in the eyes or ears.

Speedy recovery! Similar thing happened to me on 11th & Pine, just steps away from Purr. I was on my phone (and looking down, I know, I know) and walking toward Pine. A group of 2 guys, 1 girl bumped into me (or I into them) and one said get out of the way faggot. Of course, I turned and said excuse me *emphasized*, since I was right in front of a gay bar and all, and thought it completely inappropriate. We went back and forth, then he punched me and I went down to the concrete hard.

I'm not shocked at this type of behavior. Seems to happen all the time and I've lived up here since 2004, but been visiting the hill since 1999. Just seems to keep getting worse and worse. I remember when us gay guys would hang out in groups on Broadway, boys/girls holding hands and having fun -- now, not so much. Times have really changed. There is something to be said about the "gay ghetto" and how much safer you may feel with people watching your back (of course I'm not referring to Stonewall or other more tragic times in homo history).... Bring back Q-patrol?

@14 I had a similar situation at the East Precinct. I had information regarding a burglary and they told me to call 9-1-1, when I had the suspect's photo in hand!! HAHA, took 2 months to have a detective call me back. Policing in this city is ridiculous!