Vigilante dad recounts catching man accused of assaulting UW students: ‘I’ve got to find this guy’

The father of a University of Washington (UW) student took matters into his own hands when he found out his daughter was assaulted.

Bill Steinkirchner, who lives in California, spoke with “The John and Jake Show” on KIRO Newsradio on Tuesday about how he tracked down the man suspected of the attack.

It started Sunday morning when he got a call from his wife that his daughter had been assaulted.

“Basically, what happened was, she was across the street and this guy was yelling and screaming and she ignored him and apparently he zeroed in on her,” Steinkirchner said. “It was early in the morning, so nobody else was out, ran across the street and next thing you know, he’s swinging at her. He’s yelling at her, ‘I’m gonna kill you. I got a gun.'”

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Steinkirchner said as soon as he heard that, he booked a flight and was out the door.

To find the man, Steinkirchner scoured the internet to get all the information he could on his whereabouts. Once he arrived at UW, he searched the area and to his surprise, saw the man in an alley.

“I go, ‘It can’t be that easy’ and I walked up there, and sure enough, we almost ran into each other,” Steinkirchner said. “He didn’t know who I was but I recognized him instantly from the pictures and I just kind of like, ‘Hey,’ and I yelled at him, and he kind of looked at me. I said, ‘You’re gonna have to bleep it out.’ But I go, you want to **** girls? Go, **** what? And so he booked it, this guy could have been in the Olympics, I mean, he just ran.”

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Steinkirchner said he chased the man for a while, his military training kicking in, before coming to a point where he could call the police. Seattle officers then arrived and were able to detain the man.

“I think it took me about three hours to quit sweating,” Steinkirchner joked.

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