Charges filed in marina attack after SPD release suspect

It’s been two weeks since Tim Ptak fought off an alleged intruder at a West Seattle marina. In that time, the suspect has been charged, but the charges came too late. Now he’s back out on the streets, and Ptak is worried.

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“If I attacked somebody, I can’t imagine just getting off that easy,” Ptak told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don Show. “The guy has been arrested 23 times, and he’s still walking around, being a jerk? What does it take? And they knew his record before they released him. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“They had him — they had him,” Ptak said. “It’s disappointing. It’s scary. Clearly, the guy is not afraid of attacking people. He keeps doing it. He needs to be off the street.”

Paul David Story, 44, has a history facing law enforcement in the Seattle area. He has been booked 23 times since 1993, and has had 10 warrants for his arrest over the years. Many of those previous incidents involve trespassing and theft, according to a recent police report. Now, he has been charged with first-degree burglary in King County Superior Court. But that charge was filed April 4, nearly two weeks after the initial March 22 incident. Story was held for 72 hours after he was arrested at the marina; since he wasn’t charged in that time, he was released.

Marina attack

Ptak encountered Story on March 22 at a houseboat moored at the West Seattle marina. Story allegedly took a kayak up to the houseboat, went aboard, and was stealing food from inside the home when Ptak found him. Story then allegedly attacked Ptak with pepper spray. The two scuffled on the dock. At one point, Story went into the water and swam under the boathouse to hide. Police and the fire department were called to the scene. After unsuccessful attempts to get Story out from under the houseboat, a chainsaw was brought in and a hole was cut in the floor of the boat. Story was then taken into custody.

“I thought he was going to drown,” Ptak said. “The water is so cold. I’ve jumped in there intentionally and it is cold. It takes your breath away. That he survived in that water for an hour is incredible.”

Story was barely conscious when he came out of the water, according to the police report. He was treated for hypothermia at a local hospital, held for 72 hours — then released. A Seattle Police Department spokesperson has said the department “dropped the ball” and the incident is a teaching moment.

“Teaching moment? For assault? Just filing the charges?” Ptak said. “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. They’ve got a serious job, and it needs to be taken seriously.”

Ptak now takes extra caution when going to the marina. He says he now escorts his wife in that area.

“And with the police letting him go, I’m sure he’s back in that neighborhood,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like he has a lot of options. It’s nerve-racking.”

Listen to Ptak’s full interview below.

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