According to a police report, on March 19, an officer patrolling the 300 block of Battery Street was contacted by a business owner who said that a man had called to inform her that he was assaulted the previous morning (March 18) in front of her building. The owner, who was also concerned about people sleeping in front of her business and crime in general, relayed the alleged assault victim’s name and cell phone number to the officer, saying the victim had contacted Seattle Police Department but was unsure if a record of his assault had been taken.
The officer called the man and left a message after not finding a SPD record. On Monday, March 22, the officer received a call back from the alleged victim, who gave this account of events:
On March 18, at 2 a.m., he was walking back to his car on 300 block of Western Avenue after visiting friends on Capitol Hill. The report states that he was approached by a group of five or six “street people.” The group was composed of both “whites and blacks.” One of them asked for his jacket. “Although he didn’t feel that the request was intimidating or a threat of violence if he didn’t give them his jacket,” with apparent Jesus-like goodwill (or maybe 2 a.m. liquid generosity), “he did give them his jacket and then walked away towards the street corner.”
According to the report, as the man neared the corner, the suspects chased after him and “one of the suspects struck him in the face from behind.” The victim remembers dropping to the sidewalk and “seeing stars.” By the time he got up, the suspects were gone.
According to the report, the victim wasn’t carrying a wallet, cell phone, or anything else of value in his jacket at the time of his attack. He got into his car and drove home. The victim says his face was covered in bruising and lacerations which he did seek medical treatment for.
Concealed-carry-permit, say it with me now. Practice and learn how to use it safely at a local range. The rates are reasonable. When confronted like this by the “homeless” or iPhone snatching ghetto animals be ready to use it.
Or you could just eliminate the middleman and shoot yourself…..
how do you hit someone in the face from behind?
@3 Here is the classic example :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz9RE9RGr…
@1, you’re just fantasizing about killing the muggers. Don’t dress it up. @5, likewise.
Sorry, raindrop. I was wrong to include you.
Actually, gun issues bore the bejeezus out of me. Have all the guns you want, just don’t expect me to get one. I’m spazzy enough – you don’t want to see me armed.
@1, if you kill someone who is trying to steal your iphone, it is not self-defense, it is murder and you are far more an animal than some dumb kid doing something, well, dumb.
Geez, you’d think that instead of pushing “civility laws”, Burgess might want to instruct the police to actually file reports of assault when the victim contacts them.
I mean, if a victim has to chase down a business owner to chase down a cop to actually pay attention to the crime, and, you know, maybe follow it up, then perhaps the problem is one of enforcement, and not one of legislation. What’s the point of passing more laws if the cops are too busy eating donuts to enforce the laws already on the books?
@9, I’m not getting paid to teach you the law, so I’ll keep this short and sweet: If there is a threat of violence, then, in most cases, you are justified in defending yourself. Anybody who’s dumb enough to hand over his iPod without a threat deserves whatever he gets anyway.
@10: That was my first thought as well. Some police department you have there.
Tell me what people sleeping in front of the business has to do with someone being assaulted by a group of men. Why was that bolded?
Ahh, the amazing “street people” you guys so fervently defend at all costs. Fantastic.
@ 1 — “By the time he got up, the suspects were gone.”
So, who ya gonna shoot when you get up? (BTW, did they take your gun while you were down?)
Will you preemptively shoot the first 5 or 6 people you encounter downtown at closing time?
Or will you preemptively shoot people in their sleep?
@14— Read the article you flaming dumbfuck. He let them appraoch him and handed over his coat. He then turned his back on them and walked away. He should have crossed the street when he saw them and had his weapon ready if they followed him.