SEATTLE — A Pioneer Square man is speaking out a day after a frightening attack he said happened while he walked his dogs in a Seattle park.
The two men who assaulted him have been ordered to be held at the King County Jail.
This victim’s face was slashed with a knife. It is a wonder he can talk at all. But he said he was determined to tell his story.
He said he was in Occidental Park on Monday morning when a pit bull charged his dogs.
“They were located by where the bench is,” said Alex Drummond, the long scar on his face visible for all to see.
He said he was with his two dogs, both on a leash, when he heard a sound.
“When I heard all of the commotion,” said Drummond, “I just saw the pit bull come racing past the tree towards us and slam into my two dogs here.”
He tried to stop the dog.
“And I was able to grab it by the collar and yank it off,” said Drummond, “at which point the dog’s owner had come over and was then started shouting abuse and threatening me for having pulled his dog off of mine.”
He said the pit bull’s owner is this man shouting at Seattle police. A second man joined the fray, he said, and punched him. He said he used pepper spray to fight off both men. But the pit bull’s owner, identified in court as Dominque DeSean Jones, came after him with a knife.
“And when he lunged, he managed to catch all down the side of my face,” he said, tracing the scar along his face. “Turns out he managed to cut an artery across my face.”
Drummond spoke just a few blocks from this homeless encampment that has grown exponentially since the nearby City Hall Park was cleared out last month.
All of it angers him.
“I want Seattle City Council to see this,” said Drummond. “I want them to hear it and stop putting out little sound bites where they’re like we need this taken care of ASAP. ASAP is too late. We need to get it done yesterday.”
City Councilmember Andrew Lewis, responding to Drummond’s feelings, said, “No, I understand that.”
But he credited the police for their quick response. Moreover, he said, the council has allocated millions to house the homeless. Implementation is left to the mayor.
“Under the charter, the council sets the budget priorities, and we provide oversight,” he said. “But we don’t actually execute services. The mayor executes services.”
But the mayor’s office reported there are 4,000 unsheltered people in Seattle, and the council did not allocate enough money to house all of them.
Still, it insisted, the city has found housing for hundreds of people. But it needs regional, state and federal help to get everyone inside.
As for Drummond, he said he won’t walk his dogs here again. And he worries for anyone else who does.
©2021 Cox Media Group
