Intoxicated, armed ‘homeless’ man allegedly attacks family in Seattle

UPDATE: The suspect has been confirmed as homeless and, according to KIRO 7, has been subject to over 24 warrants since 2016.

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Police report there’s been another assault from a man, believed to be homeless, against innocent passers-by, this time a father and his daughter walking to the Cinerama in Belltown on Father’s Day.

Police: Homeless man attacks tourist with rope in Seattle

The unidentified victims were on their way to a screening of “The Incredibles 2” when the suspect, David Ailep, allegedly followed the pair as they walked down the sidewalk. When the female victim tried to walk away from Ailep, he said to her “why are you laughing at me” and “stop laughing at me.” She wasn’t laughing at him.

According to the police report, obtained by KTTH 770 AM, she asked Ailep to get away from her, but he refused:

“She observed that Ailep had his right hand in his pocket (she noted that it looked like was holding a knife in his hand covered by his jacket pocket) and his left hand was up and back in a striking position like he was going to hit her,” the report says. “She feared that he was going to strike her, and she decided to pull out her ASP baton from her purse to defend herself.”

The female victim screamed at him to get away from her, but he refused, grabbing both of her arms, and rattling her back and forth until he was able to take the baton from her, according to the police documents. She yelled out in pain.

At this point, her father became aware of the assault and jumped into help, tackling Ailep to the ground. While on the ground, according to the police report, Ailep swung the baton at the father, hitting him “directly on the forehead” leaving a “visible swollen laceration” from the baton strike.

After police arrived in the area of the 9-1-1 call, they spotted a suspect matching Ailep’s description. When the two officers attempted to make contact with Ailep, he sprinted away on foot and, “without any instruction given to him,” laid on the ground to be detained.

One of the officers observed Ailep to be under the influence of drugs. He said Ailep had a difficult time staying focused, and appeared frantic and “in a complete stand of delusion or delirium.”

During the interview, he made random statements to the officer like “what’s in your sink man” and “I take showers.” He repeated random statements like “easy” and “twelve, thirteen, twenty-two.” The police report claims he “appeared to be suffering from the effects of a powerful psychedelic and or stimulant narcotic…” and claimed he performed oral sex for drugs. While he claimed his pockets were empty, a search found a folding knife, a cell phone, and a wallet that didn’t belong to him.

After his arrest for felony assault and theft, a King County Intake nurse advised Ailep was not suffering from mental illness but was “extremely intoxicated” from a stimulant narcotic. While the Seattle Police Department hasn’t confirmed Ailep is homeless, a source suggested they believe him to be.

This is the third high-profile homeless attack on a passerby in the last several weeks, with a rape in Ballard and a strangling of a tourist near the Space Needle occurring within weeks of each other. These incidents are occurring as Mayor Jenny Durkan asks for community support to place tiny home villages in residential neighborhoods. The South Lake Union village may be low barrier, which would allow someone like Ailep the ability to keep his drugs in his home.

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