SEATTLE — Timmothy Nelson had been carrying it around for days: The picture of Richard Sitzlack that Seattle Police had given Metro Bus Drivers so they could be on the lookout. It was three days and a few hours since a tragedy rocked their collective world. One of their own, operator Shawn Yim was stabbed to death early in the morning near the University of Washington.
“Whether they knew him personally or not, it felt by everybody and it doesn’t compare to his family but among our coworkers, it’s been really hard,” Nelson said.
Nelson did know Shawn. For several months when he was without a car, he’d ride Shawn’s bus to work at the base they were centered at.
“He was always really nice, he was always good with a joke or quip or something like that and was just really caring,” Nelson said.
He remembers Shawn giving him grief for working the overnight shift on the E-line, the bus line that goes north and south on Aurora Avenue, the same bus line where Sitzlack got on Nelson’s bus early Saturday morning before being arrested by Seattle Police.
“I saw his face and I was like that’s him I was happy that we got him, I was angry too about everything that happened and everything he did but then I was relieved that it kind of felt like it was over, at least this part of it was over,” Nelson said.
An updated description of clothes Sitzlack may have been wearing was shared with Nelson as he was finishing the last lap south on Aurora. One of the sleeping riders on his bus was wearing clothes that matched. He informed his supervisors and waived down police as he approached the stop at Third Avenue South and South Main Street in downtown Seattle.
“It was a really big team effort between me, whoever called in the tip, the supervisors who told me about it, the police officers that were there, all the support from everybody,” Nelson reflected.
Sitzlack was processed and brought to Seattle Headquarters for an interview. Court documents revealed more details from police about what happened early Wednesday morning when Yim was killed. Documents say that Sitzlack pepper sprayed and punched Yim. Yim then called 911, calling for help as he tried to chase down Sitzlack.
“Hurry please, he’s leaving,” the documents say Yim said on the call with 911.
After, the documents note the sound of a struggle with the sound of two voices.
“I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed, hurry please,” the documents say Yim said. “I’m dying right now, hurry please, hurry please.”
Officers found Yim dead when they arrived on the scene. A passenger on the bus who worked at a tent site that Sitzlack tried to check into identified Sitzlack, helping police track their suspect.
According to the documents, police briefly interviewed Sitzlack after his arrest Saturday morning. After reading him his Miranda rights, the documents note Sitzlack apologized. They noted the scabs he had on his knuckles.
“Sitzlack stated that he got the injury in the fight with the bus driver. Sitzlack asked for a lawyer and no further questions related to this incident were asked,” read the documents.
Nelson says he is still processing, helping affect the arrest of Sitzlack, while still grieving his fallen coworker.
“I know he cared about people, he cared about his family, he cared about his coworkers, and was just nice all around whatever happened it doesn’t make any sense for it to happen to him,” Nelson said.
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