Issues continue for Seafair pirates after assault at Daffodil Parade

KIRO 7 was first to report that a Redmond man who was a Seafair pirate was found guilty of assaulting a woman during the Daffodil Parade in Puyallup last April. But the issues have continued.

Mark Jensen, who did public relations for the Seafair pirates for years, left because of the assaults. For KIRO 7, Deborah Horne asked whether any changes are being made to help restore the Pirates’ good name.

In April, a Seafair pirate forcefully kissed a woman during Puyallup’s Daffodil Parade. The Puyallup Police Department posted on its Facebook blotter that the woman who was kissed is a bus driver. The kiss shocked the woman and cut her lip slightly, according to police.

She drove for one of the schools with students participating in the four-part parade, which left police little time to interview her before she had to take her students to Sumner.

The pirate had kissed two other bus drivers on the cheek, police Capt. Ryan Portmann said.

“One of the pirates took the cheek kiss and advanced that to the lips, and she didn’t like that,” Portmann said of the third driver. “I guess it was pretty forceful.”

The pirate, who is associated with the Seafair float, then gave the woman his business card, police said. The Seafair float is known in part for the loud cannon it fires during the parade each year.

The pirates’ website later said the man is no longer a Seafair pirate.

"It has been brought to our attention the inappropriate conduct of one our members at a community parade over the weekend," the statement read. "The Seattle Seafair Pirates condemn any behavior that places the safety of others in jeopardy and/or violates personal spaces and boundaries."

Cox Media Group