Dori: Repeat offender tries to stab woman with pitchfork at Ballard Post Office

Our news partners at KIRO 7 TV have uncovered documents about a horrifying attack right outside the post office in Ballard on 17th Avenue Northwest. A woman was attacked … with a pitchfork.

A woman was sitting in her car visiting the post office when 28-year-old Daniel Kuchta came up to her car carrying a pitchfork. He allegedly tried to stab her multiple times. At first, she used her purse as a shield to prevent him from hitting her legs. He purportedly stabbed the purse several times, but when he failed to deliver a brutal blow to her legs, he tried to stab her in her chest and neck.

The woman screamed, “Help, he’s trying to kill me!” A witness and construction workers chased the man and held him down until police arrived.

He has now been charged with second-degree assault.

Here is where this story is almost identical to a thousand others in the Puget Sound area.

Westlake Park knife attack latest catch-and-release case

First of all, the alleged assailant told cops he had just done meth before the attack.

Second, he has an attempted murder charge in his history from when he was 17. That was in 2009 in Oregon. He was charged with two misdemeanor assaults and obstruction of a public servant in Tacoma earlier this year, but let out on his own recognizance. I’m sure it will come as a big surprise when I tell you that he didn’t show up for his court date later. He was arrested again in July, but his one-year sentence was suspended, and he was released from the Pierce County Jail on Aug. 1 — four days before the pitchfork attack.

Third, his current address is a homeless shelter in Pioneer Square. According to the Seattle City Council, that means he’s from here. But we know the truth — if he had an attempted murder charge in Oregon years ago, then he probably isn’t from Seattle.

The most violent drug criminals are moving here from out of the state. Our public officials try to deny that and give us the impression that these people are the kids we grew up with, who have just fallen on hard times. It’s just not true. They have a bushel full of phony statistics, and this guy’s story is another example of just how phony all of that is.

Now the question is, will the prosecutor file attempted murder charges against Kuchta? If you start jabbing at a woman with a pitchfork, should that not be attempted murder? As you can see in the KIRO 7 TV photo, the prongs are very long and sharp. You could do a lot of damage with that pitchfork as a weapon. Why wouldn’t they pursue a charge of attempted murder for an attack with this deadly weapon? Why wouldn’t they try to lock this meth-head away for years?

It’s because there’s no political will to do so. They would much rather figure out the quickest and easiest way to release this guy, put him back on the streets, and then express their shock and disappointment when he kills someone the next time. Our mayor, city council, and prosecutor continue to let our streets get taken over by the drug vagrants in this revolving door of justice.

It is unbelievable that four days after being in jail in Tacoma, this guy is up in Ballard trying to kill a woman with a pitchfork. But that’s the way it is in the Wild West that is the Puget Sound area these days.

More stories like this:

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Commuter describes witnessing rush hour rampage downtown

Suspect in random Auburn bus stop stabbing had 44 prior convictions 

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