SEATTLE — Seattle police say the man suspected of assaulting and exposing himself to multiple women near Seattle Center was arrested Monday for an alleged hate crime with a felony-level assault.
The 35-year-old suspect, who has not been charged, was booked into King County Jail. His first court appearance was Tuesday.
The suspect was previously convicted of third-degree felony assault stemming from a case in 2019. During that case, he admitted to intentionally assaulting a man in July 2019.
The suspect also has multiple misdemeanors.
Police said the investigation into the alleged assaults at Seattle Center continue..
It’s been two weeks since a Seattle woman told KING 5 she was followed by a man just steps away from the loading dock at Climate Pledge Arena.
What began as a normal walk with Laura Van Burkleo's three Boston terriers, turned into a fight for her life.
“I actually did change my route that night. I normally take a right and around the block, but it was a nice night and I had my three dogs,” Van Burkleo said.
Van Burkleo said it began outside Climate Pledge Arena,
“A security guard was actually talking to me and trying to say hi to the dogs and all of a sudden I saw this man coming up 1st Avenue North,” she explained.
Van Burkleo said the man aggressively approached her and she tried to get away from him, telling him to stop following her.
“That’s when he started calling me a neo-Nazi, homophobic slurs, telling me that I should not be living anymore and that’s when he first started hitting me in the face,” Van Burkleo said.
She was able to escape but he continued to follow her and went to grab her hearing service dog, Zoe. She picked up all three of her dogs, but that’s when Van Burkleo said he began punching her over and over.
It was a moment she thought could be her last.
“It was terrifying, I was terrified, I really thought I was going to die right there on that sidewalk and I felt so humiliated and embarrassed because I wanted to defend myself,” Van Burkleo said.
Van Burkleo said a man on a moped distracted her attacker enough that she was able to get away. She said she’s most disappointed with that security guard she was talking to when this assault began.
“All while a security guard had been following us the entire time and not once did he intervene or call 911,” said Laura.
Climate Pledge Arena sent KING 5 this statement:
"We are aware of an incident which happened in the Uptown neighborhood on the evening of July 18th. An off-duty security guard witnessed the aftermath of the incident and intervened.
The Climate Pledge Arena team, including our security officers, works closely with the rest of our community as we all try to achieve a safe Uptown neighborhood."
SPD previously said a half dozen women have reported being assaulted by the man.
“It was the first time being in Seattle that as a lesbian married woman that I felt that I was directly targeted based off of my sexuality,” said Van Burkleo.
Van Burkleo and her wife Jennifer moved to Seattle five years ago from Oklahoma, and said this is the first time they've considered moving.
“What he did to me alone and the amount of threats of murdering me, he’s going to end up murdering or sexually assaulting a woman,” Van Burkleo said.
Since Van Burkleo was assaulted, other women have come forward, saying the same man attacked them.
More victims come forward
Allison Lizotte said the suspect assaulted her last Thursday while she was taking the Metro bus to Third and Pike. She said she was bit and punched by him and still, days later, has bruises and cuts.
"If this is a continuous pattern of behavior, it’s getting worse. This person needs to be stopped, he needs to put away, he needs help,” Lizotte said.
The King County Sheriff’s Office and Metro are investigating this assault.
The sheriff’s office said it’s too early to link this man to the one who was allegedly harassing and assaulting women in Uptown.
If you have information about this man or need to report an incident, call SPD at 206-684-5575.
