Police: Homeless man shatters bus window, attacks man with metal object

SHORELINE, Wash. — A homeless man with an extensive criminal history is accused of breaking out the window of a Metro bus in Shoreline and assaulting a man with a metal object.

Prosecutors said that at about 8:20 p.m. on Aug.10, 2018, Scott Francis McDonough, 38, was at the Metro bus stop at North 175th Street and Aurora Avenue North in Shoreline while holding a metal object with a 4.75-inch plate steel base attached to a 12-inch metal tube.

When a Metro bus pulled up to the stop, the driver stopped short when he noticed McDonough was standing on top of the shelter.

McDonough then climbed down to get on the bus, but when the bus driver didn’t open the doors, he walked over to the driver's side window and shattered it with the metal object, probable cause documents said.

The driver told police he then activated the emergency alert and opened all the bus doors. Passengers ran off the bus as McDonough climbed through the broken window and into the bus, then ran out the open front door toward the fleeing passengers with the metal object in his hand, according to investigators.

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After McDonough ran after passengers for a few yards, he then turned around and ran back to board the bus through the rear doors, but was stopped by a man who kicked at him as he tried to get on, prosecutors said.

McDonough then ran north as the man followed and the two fought, with the man using some kind of a sign to try to block McDonough's swings with the metal object, police said.

Detectives said McDonough then ran back toward the bus with the victim and passengers following, and then swung the object a few more times at the man he had fought earlier before he ran into a Walgreen’s store.

Once inside, a clerk noticed McDonough was bleeding and called police.  He sat on the floor and remained there until King County deputies arrived and took him into custody.  He was taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Prosecutors said the man who fought with McDonough received several marks and scrapes on his arms from the metal object wielded by McDonough.

The Metro bus was taken out of service.  The repair of the window was estimated to be $1,974.61 in parts, not including labor or the cost of the bus being out of service.

McDonough was charged with third-degree assault and second-degree malicious mischief on May 20.  Since the time of the incident, he was charged with two counts of violation of the uniform controlled substances act and third-degree assault and was in custody in the Thurston County Jail.

Records show McDonough has had nine warrants since 2012 and another 53 cases with warrant activity in Seattle Municipal Court.

His criminal history includes nine second-degree burglary convictions, convictions for felony harassment, attempted residential burglary, residential burglary, malicious mischief, eight theft convictions and two obstruction convictions. He has also had more than 50 misdemeanor and felony charges dismissed since 2012 after being found not competent to stand trial, prosecutors said.

Cox Media Group