Thursday PM: The man arrested for the numerous harassment incidents in Ballard has been identified as 28-year-old David Altomare. According to a KIRO7 report, Altomare has a criminal history and has exhibited past violent behavior targeting Asians.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is charging Altomare for hate crimes.
Altomare’s past transgressions date back to violent threats he made towards North Koreans and property damage in 2017, but his case was dismissed the following year when he plead guilty in mental health court. His 24-month mental health supervision ended in February 2020.
According to the charging documents, Altomare is known to be experienced in mixed martial arts, and told officers at the time of his arrest, “You don’t have enough tasers to take me down.”
Altomare had been staying with his brother in the Ballard Valdok apartments, who reported him to the police after seeing his photo (above) distributed on various media outlets.
Seattle Police are still investigating, and Altomare’s bail has been set at $100,000. His arraignment is scheduled for June 11.
Tuesday 1pm: Police have a suspect in custody for an anti-Asian harassment incident reported on Monday evening.
Lauri Miller saw the incident from her apartment in central Ballard, reporting in the My Ballard Group that she heard shouting outside her window.
“I went and opened the window and I saw a guy walking away from a couple, at least one of whom was Asian. He was walking back towards 15th but he turned around and started chasing the couple. He was running really fast really really fast towards them and they weren’t looking back at him so I yelled look out! They turned and saw him and took off running,” Lauri writes.
SPD’s Mark Jamieson tells My Ballard that the Monday incident was similar to the previous harassment cases over the weekend, and that detectives are still interviewing people to determine if it’s the same individual responsible.
Tuesday AM: Seattle Police say the person was not located on Monday evening. The case remains open, and anyone with information on the individual is asked to contact the SPD tip line at (206) 233-5000.
Monday PM: Police responded to 56th St. NW and 17 Ave. NW on Monday night after several eyewitnesses reported seeing a man matching the description of the suspect in the anti-Asian harassment cases.
One eyewitness says she saw the man yelling and chasing after a couple walking on Market St. A photo posted in the My Ballard Facebook group shows a man who looks similar to the photo released by Seattle Police yesterday.
Here’s our earlier story. We’ll keep you updated.