Community rallying around King Donuts owners after attack

They survived the killing fields in Cambodia and came to Seattle to make a new life. Now the community is rallying around the longtime owners of King Donuts in Rainier Beach after they were beaten and robbed Friday night.

Chia Pol, 61, and her husband Heng Hay have owned King Donuts on Rainier Avenue South for nearly three decades.

Their daughter, Davie Hay, says her parents were closing up Friday night when a man tried to take her mother’s purse.

“My mom wouldn’t let go. He started punching her in the face. Then my dad realized someone was trying to steal her purse and he went to go help her but he got punched and tossed to the sidewalk. Then he went back to punching my mom.”

Community members showed up all day Monday, bringing flowers and well-wishes. So many people came through the door that the donuts were sold out by noon.

Longtime customer Chennae Pierce drove up from Renton to show her support. “Everybody loves their donuts. Before my dad passed, he was here every day. Him and my mom, every morning, they would come and get a dozen donuts for everybody, or two dozen depending on who was at the house. They were here all the time,” says Pierce, who is very upset about what happened. “I was sad and mad and I want to catch him. That’s how we all feel.”

Many have also donated to a GoFundMe page the family set up to help cover medical and dental expenses for Chia and Heng Hay. So far, the page has raised over $16,000 toward a goal of $30,000.

Hay says they’ve been very surprised with the outpouring of support. “I can’t believe the amount of strangers that have never been here or don’t know us personally who have donated.”

Hay explains the combination Donut, Teryaki, and Laundry shop has become a community gathering place. “Everyone comes here to wash their clothes, play cards, meet up with their friends. So for this type of incident to occur with so long of being here without any type robbery or assault is shocking.”

Hay met her parents at the hospital after the attack, “My dad had heavy bruising. He had a black eye when I saw him. My mom who got the worst of it, her teeth were punched in near the back of her mouth, heavily swollen on her face,” she says.

Hay says the whole incident is even harder to take because her parents have been through so much in their lives. Chia and Heng Hay fled Cambodia during the 1970’s, when Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge were conducting a systematic genocide that killed more than 1.5 million people.

“They had my sister at the time and they walked about 15 hours to Thailand to a refugee camp and they stayed at the camp for a while and my brother was born there, and in about ’81 or ’82 my parents got sponsored to move to Seattle where they’ve literally just worked and worked and saved enough money to open our shop in ’87.”

Hay says the children are proud to continue to help their parents’ American dream by running the shop.

Police are still searching for a suspect. “The only description they got was a young black male, 5’5 to 5’7, and he was wearing all black,” says Hay.

Police are asking anyone with information to call the robbery unit at (206) 684-5540.