A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault Sunday night after he allegedly instigated a fight and then stomped on the victim’s head, Olympia police say.
The 40-year-old male victim was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital and was placed in an intensive care unit, Olympia police Lt. Paul Lower said.
About 10:40 p.m., police were dispatched to the 100 block of Pattison Street Northeast, just north of Martin Way and near the Intercity Transit headquarters.
Police arrived to find a group of people in the street, waving them down. The victim was lying on the ground, bleeding from his mouth, Lower said. Medical aid was called to the scene while an officer tended to the man. The man was unconscious and non-responsive, but was breathing, Lower said.
According to witnesses, the suspect was agitated and walking through the area when he tried to engage several people to fight him, Lower said. The suspect violently shoved a 46-year-old woman, he said.
It was not clear if the victim responded to the shoving because the suspect then turned on him and punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground, according to police. He then stomped on the man’s head, Lower said.
Police searched the area for the suspect with the help of a Thurston County Sheriff’s Office K9. The 27-year-old man was found several blocks away, hiding behind a truck, Lower said.
