Date/Time: 9/7/2011, 1247 Hours
Location: Division St. and Harrison Ave., Olympia
Incident: Panhandle Fist vs. Bicycle Face
Olympia Police responded to Harrison Avenue and Division Street in response to multiple 911 phone calls reporting a physical altercation between two men at the busy intersection, a bicyclist and a panhandler.
By the time the responding officer arrived both of the subjects and any witnesses had already cleared the scene. The OPD officer then began contacting pedestrians in the immediate vicinity in order to locate witnesses to the reported fight. Multiple witnesses, including a number of volunteer passers-by indicated that they had seen a panhandler with a sign reading “Hungry” assault a man who was stopped at the intersection on his bicycle after the cyclist declined to give the man money. One story indicated that a handgun had in some way been involved. Witnesses described the panhandling assailant as a tall white male in his twenties.
With the eyewitness accounts noted the officer set out looking for the suspect, but first came upon a bicyclist matching the description of the victim. Upon contacting the cyclist, who had blood on his face and at least one of his top teeth missing, the officer was able to confirm that it was indeed the victim of the reported assault. The cyclist stated that as he was stopped at the intersection while traveling down Division Street, a man approached him and “demanded” money from him. And that when he refused the panhandler started cursing him and spit on him. The cyclist then spit back at the aggressive panhandler, causing the man to launch into a punching tirade. The cyclist stated that several of the punches landed to his face, knocking out two of his teeth and splitting his lip.
As the cyclist gave his account of events to the officer, a man suddenly stood up out of some bushes near the sidewalk just down the street and began walking across the street and away from the OPD officer and the cyclist. The victim immediately pointed out the man as his assailant. As the officer approached the suspect the man immediately sat on the curb and raised his hands above his head. He was taken into custody without further incident.
While in custody the suspect verbally admitted to assaulting the cyclist, adding that he knew it was wrong. He insisted that he had not initiated the contact between the two men and that the cyclist had been taunting him by saying, “I’m a poor little bum, give me money,” and repeatedly insinuated that he was “on dope” and should get a job. The suspect explained that he is not normally a violent person and does not “do dope,” but he was “just tired of being harassed.”
According to the cyclist, the man fled the intersection following the assault but was chased down by a group of witnesses as well as the victim himself. One unidentified passerby in a vehicle allegedly stopped and briefly detained the suspect by brandishing a pellet gun pistol and saying, “You’re not going anywhere.”
The suspect was booked on a charge of Assault in the 2nd degree.