SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Downtown Seattle street musician attacked by homeless person
Mar 27, 2019, 4:02 PM | Updated: 4:23 pm
Leonard Brinkman's face was significantly injured after a homeless man attacked him downtown Seattle. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
Shoreline resident Leonard Brinkman, 60, has performed music on downtown Seattle streets for years.
“I’ve been busy around here … I love doing what I do,” Brinkman, who is legally blind, told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.
But last week, Brinkman’s livelihood and safety were threatened when a homeless man randomly assaulted him.
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The musician said that the incident began when a person who appeared to be living on the streets came up to him on the sidewalk at 6th Avenue and Pine Street, and began “acting strangely,” exhibiting odd behaviors such as removing his own shirt. Brinkman said that he did not engage with the man, but that nevertheless, the violence soon began.
“Next thing I know, he just turns around, walks back over to me, and pushes my head into the pavement, causing blood to come out,” Brinkman said.
His injuries were so serious that he had to be taken to Harborview, where he received stitches. Brinkman described his face as “black and blue and yellow,” and added that his left eye “was so bloodied up.”
Seattle police arrived at the scene within a few minutes and apprehended the man. The perpetrator, who is now in jail, had a previous warrant at the time he was out on the street.
Brinkman feels that it’s “uncalled for” that the Seattle City Council would allow a person with warrants to walk around downtown Seattle freely, where he could harm innocent people who are simply going about their business.
“I want to see him prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Brinkman said. “I think he needs to pay for what he’s done.”
In the meantime, Brinkman does not intend to let the assault stop him from playing music in front of Westlake Center, but he does fear that city leaders do not have the best interests of him and of his fellow residents in their hearts.
“I can’t come down here and sit on the street corner without being assaulted,” he said.
