Victim reacts after axe-wielding suspect seen breaking into apartment is freed with no charges

SEATTLE — A 46-year-old man was arrested for breaking into an occupied Capitol Hill apartment armed with an axe, a hatchet and a spiked glove was released from jail without charges Monday — after state case workers concluded he is incompetent and unable to defend himself in court.

Stanley Dion Red, 46, who has a long criminal history, and a history of treatment for mental illnesses, was captured on video climbing onto the balcony of a Capitol Hill apartment complex on June 17th. According to Henry Stelter, the tenant who was working from home at the time, Red entered the apartment and directly approached him.

“I went back, and I grabbed my pistol,” Stelter told KIRO-7 News. “At that point he’d seen me, and he started walking down the hallway towards me and he started reaching for the axe on his back. He also had a glove that had a metal spike sticking out the front of it.”

Stelter said Red was speaking unintelligibly, offering to “buy the apartment,” and cursing at him.

“I just kept telling him he needs to get out get out. He was saying all sorts of random things that I couldn’t really make out,” Stelter said. “I slowly backed him down.”

At gunpoint, Red climbed back down off the balcony into the alley, and minutes later SPD officers moved in and arrested him for criminal trespassing. But today, more than two weeks later, Henry was informed Stanley Red was released — with no charges at all.

“It is definitely very worrying that he could just show up right now,” Stelter said. “He showed up in broad daylight last time. Who knows what could happen now?”

KIRO-7 News obtained Stanley Red’s mental competency evaluation and it appears to contain the reasons he was set free without charges.

State psychologists apparently concluded Red was incompetent to even understand why he was arrested detail a history of psychiatric hospitalizations, saying he has “symptoms of psychosis, including rambling speech, thought disorganization and delusions.”

The evaluation goes on to say Red’s charge was “not a serious offense, according to state law,” and the City Attorney’s Office said they had no choice but to drop the case.

Now, the victims in the case are wondering about their wellbeing — and Red’s.

“When the guy left, he also wasn’t particularly concerned about getting out of here.” Said Paul Meyer, who manages the apartment building, and compiled the surveillance video. “He knew there were no consequences. He spent ten minutes hanging out in the alley before the police rolled up and picked him up,” Meyer said.

Stelter added, “Nobody followed up and requested any sort of evidence. We have videos of him breaking in. “We tried to give them to the police, we tried to give them to the prosecutor, and nobody accepted them, nobody wanted them, or seemed to care. It seemed like a hindrance that we were trying to help in this situation.”

According to sources in the prosecuting attorney’s office, involuntary treatment evaluations may be conducted while a defendant is still in jail. The results and subsequent proceedings after any such evaluation would be confidential by law.

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