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Man charged for mail carrier impersonation, assault in Seattle
Police say Ian Alexander Blair is accused of dressing up as a letter carrier, then forcing his way inside a home and then striking a husband and wife inside. He is pictured below.
SEATTLE - A man accused of dressing up as a postal worker, then attacking two people inside their Phinney Ridge home is now officially charged.
The 31-year-old remained behind bars in the King County Jail on Thursday night.
"I came out and there was an ambulance, two police cars and a police officer standing in the doorway of the house," said Peter, a neighbor who lives on the same block as the victims.
Peter was one of many residents in the neighborhood who realized something was wrong after police arrived on the quiet stretch of Phinney Ridge.
"They said, ‘No, everything is under control. Nothing to worry about’. Then, looking it up, it was an assault," said Peter.
Court documents describe the bizarre crime that unfolded.
Police say Ian Alexander Blair is accused of dressing up as a letter carrier, then forcing his way inside a home and then striking a husband and wife inside. He is pictured below.
Police say he approached the husband first and handed him the letter, which was a written demand asking him to hand over Bitcoin in exchange for information or face some sort of consequence.
Court documents stated, "The letter was an attempt to extort cryptocurrency from the victim in exchange for information he could use in an ongoing lawsuit."
That letter is pictured below.
As the man read the letter, police say that's when Blair was accused of pushing his way through the door and attacking the man.
When his wife ran to his aid, court documents state Blair briefly strangled her. Her injuries are pictured below.
A neighbor called 911 and police quickly made an arrest after arriving.
"When I heard it was someone from the outside that had done it, I was kind of surprised and reading the police reports and news reports it seems even stranger,' said Peter.
Police say Blair was also wearing a white Tyvek suit under the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) uniform and carried USPS bag.
He had some other troubling items with him as well, including a taser, cell phone jammer, a roll of Gorilla Tape, heavy-duty plastic bags, zip ties and a mask and sunglasses.
He also had a tourniquet, and a box of plastic gloves.
Neighbors say it makes you wonder just who is at your door.
"It erodes trust and I don’t want to live in a world where I have fear of opening the door, and even if this happens, if a mail carrier shows up with a package, I will still open the door," said Peter.
He's charged with burglary along with criminal impersonation, extortion and assault. He's currently being held on a $1 million bond.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Seattle Police Department and original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle.
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