A Seattle teenager was arrested this week for allegedly attacking a woman with a bizarre “improvised weapon” made from a length of chain and a rusty metal bracket with rusted bolts sticking out of the end.
The Seattle Police Department said officers responded to a report of a fight with weapons on the 400 block of Maynard Avenue South near Hing Hay Park shortly before 4 p.m. on May 5. Officers quickly detained the suspect and began investigating.
Witnesses told officers the 18-year-old suspect walked up to a group and asked about fentanyl, “his drug of choice,” according to the police report. The group said they do not use narcotics and asked the man to leave the area. After a verbal confrontation, the suspect left.
He returned a short time later, however, armed with a knife and an “improvised weapon.” A photo of the weapon shows some type of rusted metal bracket with several rusted bolts attached to the end of a heavy metal chain.
The suspect allegedly swung the knife at parkgoers, causing them to flee. The suspect then approached the victim, a 27-year-old woman, and allegedly threatened her with the knife and tried to strike her with the chain weapon. The victim escaped the attack thanks to warnings from bystanders, who tried to subdue the suspect until officers arrived.
The victim told police that the same suspect assaulted her just days earlier at Third Avenue South and Yesler Way.
The case remains under investigation. The suspect was booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Assault.