SEATTLE — The man charged with stabbing an elderly blind man at a Seattle apartment complex earlier this month was scheduled to make his first court appearance on Wednesday.
Matthew Hadley, 47, is charged with assault in the first degree for allegedly striking the victim with a cane before using a switchblade to stab him in the abdomen, according to court documents.
Seattle police officers were called to the Rainier House on Rainier Avenue South for a reported assault on Aug. 11 just before 7:15 p.m., according to probable cause documents.
Officers reviewed security camera footage and observed the victim using a cane to walk down the hall of the fourth floor of the building, feeling the wall as he moved along. Footage shows an occupant of a unit, later identified as Hadley, exiting his room and confronting the victim with a black object in his right hand.
Hadley first struck the victim in the back of the head with the cane before hitting him again in the upper back, court documents say. The victim then struck back with his own cane in self-defense, and a "brief tussle" ensued between the two. As the two sparred, Hadley allegedly used a switchblade to stab the victim in the left chest before returning to his room.
When police arrived at Hadley's unit to speak with him, he refused to come out of his room, court documents say. A Seattle police SWAT unit eventually served a warrant and took Hadley into custody. The cane and switchblade used to assault the victim were found, as well as two other knives.
The victim was treated and transported to Harborview Medical Center. Seattle police said the victim's liver was lacerated in the attack.
Prosecutors requested $200,000 bail for Hadley due to some previous criminal convictions in King County.