SEATTLE — A violent assault on a teenage girl in Seattle has left residents in the Northgate neighborhood shaken and on high alert.
Police say the attack happened Tuesday morning around 9 a.m. near Northeast 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue Northeast, where a 15-year-old girl was waiting at a bus stop.
Investigators say a 36-year-old man approached the girl, asked her age, and told her she was attractive before coercing her into the nearby woods. Court documents state the victim complied out of fear of what might happen if she refused.
RELATED | Man arrested for rape, kidnapping after allegedly dragging teen girl into Northgate woods
A witness told investigators they heard the girl screaming and saw the two emerge from the wooded area, according to court documents. The victim was “crying and looked terrified” as the suspect ran off.
About two hours after the reported assault, firefighters who had treated the victim earlier spotted a man matching the suspect’s description defecating in the street near Aurora Avenue North and North 115th Street, leading to his arrest. Surveillance footage from a nearby business also places the suspect in the area around the time of the incident, according to investigators.
He is in custody as investigators gather evidence for potential charges of rape of a child and kidnapping.
King County Jail records show he had been released from custody last week in connection with a separate case. He also has multiple active warrants from Snohomish County and Puyallup Municipal Court. His record includes more than a dozen prior arrests, including robbery, shoplifting, domestic violence assault, and drug possession, though none resulted in felony convictions.
According to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, a recent drug possession case involving the suspect had been routed into a therapeutic alternative diversion program, which likely would not have resulted in jail time even if he had been convicted.
Prosecutors are expected to file felony charges in the latest case later this week.
