Please help Seattle Police find the man who ambused and beat me unconscious on MLK last night around 8 PM (self.Seattle)

Seattle

837 ups - 0 downs = 837 votes

Can you guys please help police find the man who ambushed and beat me unconscious on MLK Jr near Beacon Hill last night around 8 PM?

I was driving on MLK Jr to grab a quick dinner. I signalled and switched to the left lane, apparently not seeing the car that was in my blind spot. It wasn't that close, but I still cut him off. He honked his horn and swung around me on the right, got in front of me, then slammed on his bakes. I had to veer to the left to keep from hitting him. He matched my maneuvers, at one point in a diagonal jack-knife formation across the center line. At that point, I veered further left onto the light rail tracks in order to avoid hitting him.

Unfortunately, the light turned red at that time and there were cars ahead in both lanes, leaving me nowhere to go. The other driver pulled-up in the right lane right beside me (leaving significant space between him and the next car ahead of him) and shouted something at me (I couldn't tell what it was).

The last thing I remember is seeing a pair of clenched fists approaching from behind in the driver's side mirror. I remember thinking, "Ok, so this guy wants to yell at me. I'll apologize for the error, maybe offer to buy him a drink or something, and settle it like mature adults." Even after all this, I did genuinely feel bad about cutting him off like that.

The next thing I can remember is driving down MLK, covered in blood, with no idea where I was, how I got there, or where I was going. I pulled over, disoriented, trying to figure out if this was real or a dream. I flagged down a good samaritan who called 911. At first, I didn't even know what year it is or who the president is, though I did know my name and birthday. The rest gradually came back to me, except for the attack itself, which remains a complete blank.

According to one of the officers, there was at least one witness who saw the man approach my car on the left, sucker-punch me in the side of the head from behind through the driver's side window, continue beating me in the head until I was unconscious, then run back to his vehicle and drive away. Perhaps it's better that I don't remember....

Anyway, it looks like I didn't suffer any permanent brain injuries, though they want to do another round of scans in about a week to be sure. I take warfarin (a blood thinner) for my artificial heart valve so there's some concern that bleeding or other issues could develop. I just got back from the hospital about an hour ago.

I did suffer some serious injuries to my face. My upper and lower lip were bust open in multiple places. My left eye (which is my good eye; i.e. the one not partially blinded by a stroke I suffered in 2005) is nearly swollen shut with a scratched cornea. The whole left side of my face is swollen and doctors warned me that it will get a lot worse before it gets better. I can also expect extremely severe bruising to develop, again because I'm on blood thinners. One of my teeth was chipped and the inside of my mouth was bleeding profusely. My chin was split open and required stitches. I'll now have to take antibiotics as a precaution due to the bleeding. I'm also in extreme pain right now but hopefully that will be better tomorrow after I fill the painkiller prescription they gave me.

As for me, I'm a local software engineer at a company called zulily who's lived in western Washington his whole life. I don't drink or do drugs. I don't smoke. I don't get into fights with people. I'm actually something of a pacifist when it comes to violence. I just leased a new house on Beacon Hill and currently live there alone with my cat. I'm no saint, by any means, but I don't believe I deserved to have this happen to me, either.

My wounds will ultimately heal and I'll be fine. I've dealt with painful medical recoveries before. What concerns me is what happens to the next person who finds him/herself in the crosshairs of this psychopath. People like this tend to escalate their violent behavior, which means his next victim could very well wind up dead on the side of the road somewhere if we don't catch him and get him off the streets now.

So please, if you have ANY information that may be pertinent to this case, call Seattle Police immediately!

Here is a rather grim-looking selfie I took after I got home from the hospital. It's a bit graphic so you might want to avoid looking at it if that sort of thing makes you squeamish:

http://imgur.com/5Hrrxrs

EDIT 1: For those of you suggesting that I made-up this post in order to get karma, hopefully this will put an end to that rumor:

http://q13fox.com/2014/10/05/seattle-police-search-for-road-rage-suspect/

EDIT 2: To those of you who are now saying that I must have been the aggressor or done something more to provoke him, I hope for your sake that you never find yourselves fall victim to an attack like this, only to then be victimized again by a group of people essentially saying, "He either made it up or had it coming."

Well, I didn't and I didn't. The police report and photos of my injuries should be enough to confirm that I was assaulted that night as I said.

As for what led up to the assault, I can't prove the sequence to you without video. I don't have a dash cam, though there are red light cameras in the area and maybe it's possible one of them caught it. So you might want to at least hold off on the Balloon Boy accusations until the evidence has all been collected and disclosed.

EDIT 3: Ugh, ok. Some of you are still insisting that what I described doesn't make any sense, so I'll do my best to describe it better as an ordered sequence:

  1. I decided to grab a quick dinner at McDonald's, which is a very short drive.

  2. I drove away from my new house on Beacon Hill via Dawson.

  3. I turned right onto MLK Jr. Blvd.

  4. I activated my left turn signal.

  5. I moved into the left lane.

  6. I heard a car horn from behind me and realized that I cut someone off.

  7. Some seconds later, he moved into the right lane and sped up to pass me.

  8. He moved back into the left lane, in front of me, and slammed on his breaks.

  9. I slammed on my breaks but knew that coming to a complete stop would be dangerous.

  10. I swerved to the left to avoid rear-ending him. I can't remember if it was a shoulder or turn lane or what. He was still ahead of me when I did that.

  11. Before I could pass him, he sped up and turned more sharply toward the left at a diagonal angle, using the front driver's side of his car to block my path.

  12. I swerved left even more, this time hitting the light rail tracks that divide the north/south directions of MLK.

  13. I passed him and moved back into the left lane.

  14. I increased my speed in hopes of escaping this lunatic.

  15. The light ahead turned red. There were cars ahead, stopped at the light, in both lanes. I can't remember for sure, but I think my lane had 3-4 cars and the right lane had 1-2 cars.

  16. I came to a full stop, unable to locate an alternate route on a still largely unfamiliar road in a split second.

  17. He pulled-up alongside me in the right lane and stopped, leaving at least a couple open car lengths between the front of his car and the back of the car head of him in line.

  18. I heard a shout or scream coming from the car. It almost sounded like a female voice, but I'm not sure. I couldn't tell what the person said, only that it sounded angry.

  19. I glanced over at the driver's side mirror and saw the torso of a man with fists clenched. I wish I could remember a better description, but I can't.

  20. I have no memory of the attack itself. At least one witness told police, as I understand it, that the suspect approached my window from the rear.

  21. According to the witness, the man reached in and sucker-punched me in on the left side of my head from behind. He then pummeled me in the same spot for an unknown duration.

  22. The witness said the man then ran back to his car and drove off. It wouldn't surprise me if his intent were to leave me for dead, though that's just idle speculation.

  23. The next thing I remember is driving my car down MLK. I suddenly realized I had no idea where I was going. Then I realized I couldn't remember where I came from, where I live, what year it is, who the president is, etc. I was able to remember my name, though.

  24. I pulled into an empty lot and wandered out of the car, realizing that the front of my shirt was covered in blood.

  25. I flagged down a good samaritan, who called 911.


I'll be the first to admit that I'm no saint by any stretch of the word. But nobody deserves to have this happen to them.

Those of you who believe the above events don't make any sense might want to read-up on other road rage incidents that have occurred over the years. You can also contact SPD and ask them to explain it to you. Random, unprovoked attacks like this are hardly uncommon. Your assumption that I must have somehow given him a good reason to beat me unconscious is based on the faulty premise that all people who who engage in violent road rage attacks are rational and measured in their temperment.

I hate to break it to you cynics out there, but this was just a case of a very unstable person viciously assaulting another over a minor traffic mistake. I'm not going to try to persuade you any further. Either you believe me or you don't.

And to the alleged former neighbor who says basically that I had this coming for some reason, send me a message or start a new post thread and air whatever grievances you have there. If you're such a dick that you'd attack the victim of a brutal assault on a thread where he's asking people to call police for information in order to air your dirty laundry, then I'd say it's a pretty safe bet we wouldn't get along too well. So if we actually were neighbors and this is the kind of behavior you showed back then, I wouldn't have hesitated to tell you what I think of that.

The rest of you, please just ignore these trolls. The alleged neighbor guy appears to be vote-brigading and you'll probably get hit with negative karma if you respond to any of his comments.

376 comments submitted at 12:19:57 on Oct 5, 2014 by KrisCraig

  • [-]
  • reasondefies
  • 243 Points
  • 15:57:38, 5 October

Not blaming the victim here, but for anyone in a similar situation in future - lock your doors and roll your windows up when the road raged driver storms up to your car, they are not coming up to have a rational conversation.

  • [-]
  • MsCurrentResident
  • -41 Points
  • 22:05:20, 5 October

That and FUCKING PAY ATTENTION. There is no such thing as a "blind spot." You weren't paying attention to where you were going.

  • [-]
  • DanielShaww
  • 20 Points
  • 22:09:42, 5 October

>There is no such thing as a "blind spot."

Yes there is.

  • [-]
  • Kryptus
  • 0 Points
  • 03:03:19, 6 October

If you can see your door in your side mirror, then you mirror isn't positioned properly. If you have your mirror positioned properly you don't have a blind spot.

  • [-]
  • MsCurrentResident
  • -21 Points
  • 22:27:25, 5 October

No, there isn't. Cars aren't designed that way. There are, with semi trucks and other commercial vehicles, but not in passenger cars. You check your mirrors, turn your fucking head around and you can see all around your car.

The way that idiots drive in Seattle, not paying attention to anything around them, the attacker had probably been cut off a thousand times before he snapped.

  • [-]
  • SilentNick3
  • 22 Points
  • 22:38:23, 5 October

The part where you turn your head because none of your mirrors let you see? That's the blind spot, dumb shit.

  • [-]
  • cooljayhu
  • 11 Points
  • 22:54:13, 5 October

I think what they are (poorly) trying to get at was that "blind" spot is a bit of a misnomer not that there isn't actually a place where a car can "hide" if you don't check for it. It's only a blind spot if you exclusively use your mirrors which you absolutely should not do. This is opposed to big rig trucks which have very real blind spots that you can't see in no matter due to how they are constructed or the load they are carrying.

  • [-]
  • reasondefies
  • 1 Points
  • 23:53:40, 5 October

That actually depends on the car, though. I have been in rentals where I was pretty tense every time I had to change lanes where I hadn't had full visibility for a long stretch, because you just couldn't see no matter how you turned your head.

  • [-]
  • MsCurrentResident
  • -5 Points
  • 00:00:09, 6 October

That part where you can't see it through your mirrors? YOU HAVE TO TURN YOUR HEAD TO LOOK DUMB SHIT.

Why am I surprised that someone who is too stupid to turn their head to look would call ME a dumb shit.

And you drive, presumably. You are the problem. YOU need to turn your idiot head and look all around your vehicle.

That you are upvoted by so many shitty drivers only proves my point.

  • [-]
  • mattoly
  • 1 Points
  • 23:26:27, 5 October

I used to drive a Kia with the worst blind spot I'd ever seen. Cars have blind spots, even if you turn your head.

  • [-]
  • MsCurrentResident
  • -6 Points
  • 23:57:56, 5 October

> I used to drive a Kia

Anyone who knows how to drive would never buy a Kia. I don't believe you.

  • [-]
  • mattoly
  • 1 Points
  • 00:14:35, 6 October

Honestly it was a great car. I know they have a bad rap, and Kias used to be shitty, but the newer ones are great. I was a hater too until I test drove it. Don't forget, they're basically Hyundais which are reliable cars.

  • [-]
  • Tiffniffer
  • 4 Points
  • 22:28:36, 5 October

Uh, yes there is.