A 53-year-old Seattle man hasn't regained consciousness since he was struck in the head with a hammer last week, and his doctors are unsure whether he'll survive, according to King County prosecutors.
Christopher Martin, 34, was charged Thursday with first-degree assault and robbery for the unprovoked, daytime attack near Pike Street and Third Avenue, which was captured by Metro bus video cameras and witnessed by passersby, charging papers say. He remains jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 2.
A Seattle police officer who was part of a team conducting a downtown narcotics operation Jan. 13 first noticed a man, later identified as Martin, with a hammer in his hand at a bus shelter, charging papers say. Another officer, who also saw the man waving the hammer and yelling at people on the street, witnessed the 53-year-old assault victim using an orbital grinder to cut the lock off a bicycle, according to the charges against Martin.
A Metro bus pulled up, blocking the officers' view of the shelter, but by the time the second officer walked across the street, the 53-year-old was unconscious on the sidewalk, the charges say. A woman yelled at the man's assailant, asking why he had struck the victim, and the officer saw him step over the victim's body, scoop up the victim's backpack and walk away, according to the charges.
Another witness told police that after the victim fell to the ground, the attacker stood over the victim's body and said, "I told you not to do that" — an apparent reference to the man's efforts to cut the lock from the bicycle.
That witness photographed the attacker and later gave his photos to police, the charges say. He told police the victim was struck from behind — a statement corroborated by footage captured by video cameras on the bus, according to the charges.
Martin had the victim's backpack, as well as a hammer, when he was arrested nearby moments later, the charges say.
Other Seattle police officers performed CPR on the victim until medics arrived and took him to Harborview Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for a skull fracture, charging papers say. He remains in critical condition on a ventilator, the charges say.
Martin, who has a lengthy criminal history, was charged in February 2022 with second-degree robbery but was released from jail in May so he could get treatment at a Port Angeles behavioral-health facility, according to Casey McNerthney, a prosecutor's spokesperson. The robbery case remains pending.
Last week's hammer attack was strikingly similar to an August bludgeoning at Third Avenue and Pike Street, when 66-year-old Rodney Peterman was struck in the head from behind with a metal pullup bar. His attack was also witnessed by a Seattle police officer, and his alleged assailant, Aaron Fulk, 48, was quickly arrested.
Peterman died a few days later at Harborview. Fulk was charged with first-degree murder and remains jailed in lieu of $2.5 million bail.
