Seattle man attacked while listening to music on headphones
SEATTLE - A local man was walking home, listening to music on his headphones when he was attacked by a pair of armed thieves who knocked him down, hit him in the face and robbed him at gunpoint as he lay helplessly on the ground.
The incident unfolded at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday as the man was walking back to his house in the 2200 block of E. Olive Street, said Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt.
The victim was listening to music over his headphones when suddenly he was struck in the back of his head by a blunt object, knocking him to the ground.
When he looked up, the two robbers were standing over him. One of them was pointing a shotgun at the victim’s face.
The suspect then struck the victim in the face with the shotgun several times. The robbers forcibly took the victim’s cell phone and wallet and fled the scene.
The victim walked home and called 911 from his house. Police responded and searched the area with a K-9 police dog, but they could find no sign of the suspects.
The victim sustained lacerations requiring stitches to the back of his head and under his left eye.
Anyone with information about the suspects’ whereabouts is asked to call 911. Anonymous tips are welcome.
The incident unfolded at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday as the man was walking back to his house in the 2200 block of E. Olive Street, said Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt.
The victim was listening to music over his headphones when suddenly he was struck in the back of his head by a blunt object, knocking him to the ground.
When he looked up, the two robbers were standing over him. One of them was pointing a shotgun at the victim’s face.
The suspect then struck the victim in the face with the shotgun several times. The robbers forcibly took the victim’s cell phone and wallet and fled the scene.
The victim walked home and called 911 from his house. Police responded and searched the area with a K-9 police dog, but they could find no sign of the suspects.
The victim sustained lacerations requiring stitches to the back of his head and under his left eye.
Anyone with information about the suspects’ whereabouts is asked to call 911. Anonymous tips are welcome.
Ok, nothing like demonstrating why paying attention to one's surroundings is important. Pedestrians need to pull the headphones out and keep their eyes up up, head on a swivel just like bike riders and drivers have to. Texting, phones conversations, music too loud are all distractions.
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The only person responsible for your safety is YOU.
in this day and age the last thing I do is cover my ears when I am walking outside ...especially in Seattle at night!...it is bad that this happened but this person and everyone should always be well aware of their surroundings and who is around them... only time my ears are muffled is at the gun range and when I am working out in the gym... but I can still hear and am still observant to who is around me...
It's unfortunate you can't go out late in your own neighborhood, but as a friend once told me, nothing good happens after midnight. The city gets taken over by thugs because we're so lax on crime.
From the SPD Blotter that KOMO CHOSE to omit.
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"The suspects are described as black males in their late teens to early 20s, 5â9 to 6â0 feet tall, average build. One suspect was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and the second suspect wore a dark hooded sweatshirt. Both had the hoods over their heads during the incident."
 @Ned KOMO Never gives the description if the suspect is black
Just noticed that the description was already posted by Iconoclast. KOMO, please bring back the edit option.
Thankfully he's OK, he took a pretty good beating for a wallet and cell phone.
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Saying that walking with headphones in takes away an important sense necessary to keep oneself safe, is not blaming the victim. I have a feeling he may agree at this point. I tell my teens not to walk down the road with headphones in because they will not be able to hear horns honking, tires on pavement (possibly swerving towards them), emergency vehicles, bikes, or, heaven forbid, muggers.
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He didn't ask for it! He was in the wrong place at the wrong time as it would be with anyone. But, had he been able to hear, he may have had the time to escape or alert.
 @Thunder Amen, situational awareness is really important. I would never walk around with headphones in my ear. As much as I like listening to music it's too distracting. More important to know what's going on around you.
Good point about the headphones in the years...but I have to admit Im guilty of this as well. When your walking long distances its tempting to pass the time by listening to music.
And the muggers were, what? White? Black?
 @Koawoodplayer It doesn't matter what colors they are; they are savages.
It is sad. Here this guy is walking around at 2 am in the morning, headphones on listening to music and has been so brainwashed into believeing he has nothing to worry about that late at night. He's lucky he wasnt killed. A person always needs to be aware of his or hers surroundings. Its just common sense. But I guess thats something that is lacking in Seattle....
 @Busyhands He is lucky he wasn't seriously injured or killed. When you are obviously inattentive it tends to attract predators.Â
@Iconoclast @Busyhands Pretty easy for both of you two to pass judgement...after reading a news story from one source, rather than both. I guess neither of you two have ever heard that there are always two sides to every story?
 @northwestsurfer Go walk around the Central District at 2:30am listening to headphones. Show us how wrong we are. Maybe you will be able to provide another side to the story....
 @Busyhands Well, it wasn't the smartest thing to do in a area that still has a large number of savages around, but you can bet he probably won't do it again.
 @Busyhands Stop trolling.
@Busyhands Brainwashed? It sounds like you are blaming the victim here, like its his fault. When its late and I am walking my dog before bed, I sometimes have headphones on, and dont assume I am going to be shanked in the back like you. I guess though I will invest in some night vision goggles and start checking for tripwires and claymores from now on when I go out and its late. Moron.
"Anyone with information about the suspectsâ whereabouts is asked to call 911. Anonymous tips are welcome."
I know who they are! Hey, wait a minute, how can I have information about anyone I have no clue how they look like?
 @WhatdidIsay? When there is no description you can guess what the description is. Here it is from the Seattle Police Blotter:
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"The suspects are described as black males in their late teens to early 20s, 5â9 to 6â0 feet tall, average build. One suspect was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and the second suspect wore a dark hooded sweatshirt. Both had the hoods over their heads during the incident."
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I guess there wasn't enough time for KOMO to copy that information from the Blotter.
I cannot believe people are acting like this guy deserved to be assaulted and robbed for walking at 2 am with headphones on. Â Maybe he just got off work or was out drinking and chose not to drink and drive. Â There were 2 of them and 1 of him - he most likely would have been robbed anyway. Â Doubtful they would wait for someone to walk by who WASN'T distracted by headphones. Â I'm all for people unplugging from their devices, I hate how 'connected' everyone insists on being, but he was an easy target for these thugs, period. Â And they will do it again.
@Doxie I take satisfaction in knowing all of these idiots here who blame the victim are showing just how stupid they are. Anyone with any measure of intelligence and the ability to think logically (and critically) will know the media (particularly KOMO) will skew the facts and the story in order to add more drama to it. The media will do whatever they can for the ratings, and throw whoever they can under the bus while they are at it. NPR is the only media source I can think of that does not do that.
 @northwestsurfer  @Doxie Weren't you hit on your bike a while back?  If so, we've dialogued, and I can't blame you for saying that.  Back then, people were calling you an idiot for riding your BIKE, for crying out loud!  You did nothing wrong and yet you were villified more than the idiot who hit you.  I know you recovered very well the last time we talked and hopefully even more so now.
If that wasn't you, disregard this response except to know that I agree with you.
 @northwestsurfer Read the story at the Police Blotter then:
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http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2013/02/10/man-attacked-and-robbed-by-two-suspects/
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 @northwestsurfer Merely that you are full of hot air and clearly are unable to read for comprehension.Â
@Iconoclast I already read the story. That does not make the victim responsible, and furthermore, as you just illustrated my point; KOMO failed to mention details from the police report. You can bet they did that intentionally, because it made the victim look partially resonsible for wearing headphones. So what is your point?
Jerks! Get a job! Sweet Jesus will get you two idiots! I hope the man recovers soon. Sending prayers to you.
This illustrates why the police, college officials, people who have been around the block for awhile all cringe over people walking around middle of the night with ear buds or headphones on or glaring into the screens of their phones. It is unsafe behavior.Â
At some point people are going to have to start accepting a certain amount of responsibility in cases like this. Its never been safe to walk around at 2AM in the morning, not even 50 years ago when I was a kid. This guy wanted to be a victim. I've always chosen not to be a victim and I haven't been. Been shot at a couple of times, been knifed in the back twice. But I came out of it better than the other people did. Had a couple of robbery attempts, 2 in LA, one in Salt Lake, all times I was unarmed. Came out of them ok because I was paying attention.
@Blindman Stop lying, no one believes you and we are not impressed.
 @Blindman You have been a victim more then anyone here it sounds like and you want to give advice?  Makes as much sense as if Sigi Schmid were to lead a Weight watchers group.
 @Blindman Congrats on the goofiest comment I have seen in a while.  This is your comment  "  This guy wanted to be a victim. I've always chosen not to be a victim and I haven't been. Been shot at a couple of times, been knifed in the back twice. But I came out of it better than the other people did. Had a couple of robbery attempts, 2 in LA, one in Salt Lake, all times I was unarmed. Came out of them ok because I was paying attention"  OK news for you. Being shot at, knifed in the back and being robbed twice is called being a VICTIM and you say you have never been a victim?  Thank god you were paying attention.
 @Blindman Wow, you got shot at and knifed in the back twice, and a few robbery attempts?
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Either you're being sarcastic, look like a soft target (bad/undominant body language), or don't have as good situational awareness as you think you have. Â If I had the experiences you had, I wouldn't blame you having a desire to arm yourself. Â If someone shoots or stabs you, you have every right to defend yourself and not be a victim. Â Hell, even if I was in a anti-gun state like CA I'd pack a little .32 just in case regardless of being denied a carry licence. Â (I'd rather be in jail alive than dead on the street.)
 @KennyGambler I tend to be too nice most of the time and trusting to a certain extent. And I have no fear of going into dangerous areas. Been in enough scrapes that I can usually get myself back out of them. Did get beat pretty bad by 2 cops in Bremerton once though. I was just a kid and hadn't prepared for life yet.
 @Blindman  @KennyGambler I hear ya.  I'm not too trusting of people, but I'm not paranoid either. I'm decent at reading people and have been around enough gangsters/drug dealers/people doing "dirt" to know what's going on.  I don't really let my guard down much, so I've thankfully avoided such situations.  If something feels off, I'm out of there a lot of the time.
 @Blindman For all you know, this guy works at a bar that closes at 2am and was walking home from work. Are there even buses at that hour? Maybe he can't afford a cab ride or to drive and park a car in the city. The headphones may not have been in his best interest. But seriously, "this guy wanted to be a victim"? Like "justathought" said...
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 @SusieQ  @Blindman No problem with him working at a bar late at night, but if he does he should have a little more common sense than this walking around with headphones on so that he can't be aware of whats going on around him.
@Blindman Well, pin a rose on your nose! Aren't you special. Ever heard the expression, "Pride goeth before a fall."? I think you'd better start being EXTRA careful now! ....I just love the way people make it sound like it's the victim's fault and he shouldn't even have bothered to call 911.
 @justathought  In this case the victim bears some responsibility  for not being street smart in the middle of the night.Â
Whoops, typo there.  Make that "Are the laws against assault, theft, and threatening to kill someone with a gun suspended between the hours of midnight - 6 a.m.?"Â
@Citizen#3457899654 What a load of bull.   Are the laws against assault, theft and threatening to kill someone with a gun are not suspended between the hours of midnight-6 a.m.?  Just because someone is out late does not grant dirtbags permission to attack, beat, and rob them.
Has anybody thought that maybe this is the Tubaman killer, they should find him first. Probably same guy! You'de think after shooting a Seahawk in that Belleview bar they'de be hot to catch this guy. I'm tired of all this gun Bla, bla blah! Get the real problem off the steet!!! Homocideal G-bangers!!!
@JD News alert, the killer of Tubaman is already in jail.
 @Nightshift One of them is in jail. The other two are out and about I believe.
 @JD Just an FYI so your not spreading rumors, but no Seahawk was shot or killed in that Bar Shooting.
Walking on Capital Hill at 2:30 am with headphones on, gotta be a Forrest Gump quote somewhere in that story KOMO...
 @Windowseat Life is like a box of...wait, that can't be right.....
It's funny how the comments section is almost more useful than the actual article given how PC the media is. Â Who cares if the perps happen to be white, black, asian, latino, etc.? Â If the perps where white I bet there would be a description, just the the "methy" rape-y dude in Northgate with bad teeth. Â Both of these cases involve violent crime.
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Also, it's not smart to walk around late at night with headphones on. Â And not necessarily because you might get mugged (although w/ those bright white Apple earbuds telegraphing you have expensive electronics and less situational awareness, you might have higher odds)....but you might get hit by a car, bus, etc. Same thing with texting and walking.Â
@KennyGambler
Yet looking for a particular red car in a parking lot is somewhat easier to accomplish than just looking for a particular car in that parking lot when it comes to results of finding the car in questionâ¦.
Stupid headline.........what next "Man robbed while breathing?"
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As for you people calling someone stupid for walking around at 2:30am  I guess in your world you do not realize that not everyone works a 9-5 job and has a car. There is no bus service to certain areas after dark and sometimes people need to walk home from work or even a night out with friends. Cabs are pricey and people should be able to walk in their neighborhood without packing a gun.
 @lakeunion "Cabs are pricey and people should be able to walk in their neighborhood without packing a gun."
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No argument there, but just how do you suggest accomplishing that? A policeman on every corner of the city? Eliminating some basic civil rights (e.g. the 4th)? Performing some symbolic and utterly useless protest?Â
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Until human behavior and society evolves into something different than it is attacks like this will always occur. Best to be prepared for the possibility. Situational awareness is the #1 defense
@lakeunion Well here proof to your pudding. Should be able and really being able are two different topics here. If I am walking home after midnight, there is nothing in my ears to drown out someone running up behind me. Secondly, packing heat if properly trained, will for the most part put a stop to those who feel crime pays. Gota be smarter than what you are working on.
@Nightshift Nightshift, go back to playing Call Of Duty
 @Nightshift  Two men robbed him and they had a SHOTGUN.  Doesn't matter if he had headphones on or not.Â
 @lakeunion I've worked shifts like that but when I was going home I was aware of what was happening around me not zonked out with headphones on! And....people should always move out of the way when you are riding your bike and let you go to the front of the line when you are in a hurry!! We do live in the REAL world. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go 'round and they are all here!Â