Police Investigate Possible Transgender Hate Crime in Ballard, WA
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF June 3rd, 2010
A man who was previously convicted of a hate crime was arrested after he yelled a derogatory slur at a transgender person and assaulted her, police said.
The incident happened about 3:50 p.m. Sunday at Northwest Market Street and 15th Avenue Northwest. The transgender person, who police say identifies as a woman, told an officer the suspect approached at a bus stop, yelled slurs at her and punched her several times with closed fists.
The suspect, a 51-year-old man, was arrested and booked into King County Jail. Court records show he was previously convicted for assault and a separate drug charge in 2004, and at least two other drug cases. In one 2007 case, police caught him smoking crack under the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
According to an incident report, police are investigating the case as “possible malicious harassment,” the state’s hate crime law. Court records show the suspect was previously convicted of malicious harassment in 2003.
The victim in the Ballard case told police she was fearful for her life and wanted to go to a hospital. She was taken to Ballard Swedish Hospital.
The suspect was found near Northwest 54th Street and 14th Avenue Northwest and arrested for investigation of assault.
“The suspect appeared intoxicated and had a strong odor of intoxicants,” Officer Trung Nguyen wrote in an incident report. “He would not respond to my questions of whether he understood his rights.”
The victim was ashamed that someone would assault her based on gender, according to police. Nguyen photographed the victim’s injuries as evidence.
The suspect was ordered held on $250,000 bail, but he’s also being held for violating terms of his Department of Corrections probation in a previous case, and bail for that was denied.
Seattlepi.com is not naming the suspect because he has not been charged in this case.
