Employees recall meeting man at center of bias crime investigation

SEATTLE – Seattle Police want to speak with a man caught on video after several people in Ballard say he has been terrorizing strangers of Asian descent.

Investigators are looking to see if he’s connected to three separate incidents reported in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood over the weekend.

Police say they think the same man caused trouble at Golden Gardens Park, harassing an Asian woman and spitting in the face of an Asian man before taking off.

The same man caused a disturbance at a Ballard Thai restaurant, say police. Employees claim the stranger demanded to know if they were from China.

Witnesses tell Q13 News the man got agitated and made a scene before fleeing. Nobody was injured.

“I just feel like I want to stay safe,” said Natthiya Chumdee who was working at the restaurant when the altercation took place.

Investigators say the latest incidents are among a string the bias crime unit is looking into since the coronavirus pandemic turned our world upside down.

Civil rights agencies say they are seeing a decidedly sharp increase in similar instances across America.