SEATTLE - A Seattle man accused of stabbing a Metro bus rider last Sunday was charged Wednesday with second-degree assault.
Alphonse Hope, 38, is being held on $250,000 bail. Hope has a criminal history and has had contact with police in 12 other states.
Police said Hope was riding a Metro bus on 3rd Avenue in downtown Seattle when he threw a beer bottle at a 30-year-old man who was also on the bus. Hope allegedly kicked the victim and pulled out a knife, stabbing him at least twice.
Court papers reveal Hope was also connected to another criminal case just a few months ago. In March, he was accused of intentionally obstructing pedestrian traffic in a public place, but the charge was later dismissed.
Victim recounts attack
The victim in the attack spoke about the incident for the first time Tuesday.
He said his family doesn't usually take the bus, but his mother was visiting Seattle along with his nephews. They had a big group of nine kids and adults, and they didn't want to take two cars. So they thought taking the bus was a good idea.
“This is the first time I've been on the bus in a couple years - wasn't expecting this,” said the 30-year-old Seattle man, who asked not to be identified.
But he showed where he was stabbed in the head and talked about what he remembers of the man who attacked him.
On Sunday, as the man, his mother, and other family members were getting off the bus downtown, they passed the suspect, who was in the aisle.
Police say Hope was drunk, pulled up on an overhead railing, and kicked the victim in the back with both feet. Both men stumbled onto the street and began fighting.
“Very shocked he even attacked me in that way, I can understand a fist fight, but I can't see the need for him to pull a knife on me and stab me downtown Seattle in front of my kids when it was unprovoked,” said the victim.
And then help arrived from an unexpected source. Mary, the victim's mother, tried to break up the fight.
“How can I pull two big gentlemen apart, but it's a mother's instinct. You just jump in there,” she said.
And like his mother, the victim didn't think about his safety.
“My number one concern is my kids being okay,” he said.
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