Suspect charged in stabbings in Chinatown International District

Nov. 14—King County prosecutors charged a 37-year-old man with four counts of first-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree assault on Thursday, nearly a week after a series of random stabbings in Seattle’s Chinatown International District ended with police. With the help of witnesses, he arrested him at gunpoint.

The charges filed against Roland Jerome Lee detail five consecutive stabbings that occurred just before 2 p.m. on Nov. 8 on South Jackson Street between 10th Avenue South and 12th Avenue South. All five of the victims were men, and four were taken to Harborview Medical Center, where at least two required surgery.

Lee remains a suspect in four other stabbings that also occurred between early November 7 and early November 8, also in the Chinatown International District. Seattle police detectives are still investigating these stabbings and the cases have not yet been sent to prosecutors for a charging decision.

Lee, who has nine prior felony convictions including attempted robbery, motor vehicle theft and possession of stolen property, remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail. He was last released from prison in July after serving a nearly year-long prison sentence on a burglary charge that was dropped from robbery because prosecutors failed to contact the victim, according to charging documents.

At his initial hearing last weekend, a defense attorney told the court that before Lee’s latest arrest, he lived with his uncle in Federal Way, did landscaping work and was born and raised in Seattle. But his last known address on the payment documents is that of a social services provider in Pioneer Square that offers free postal service to low-income people and people experiencing homelessness.

“Based on this horrific, unprovoked and random stabbing spree, as well as his extensive criminal history, the defendant has made it clear that he poses an extreme danger to the community,” Senior Assistant Prosecutor Ian Michels-Sletvett wrote in charging documents.

Based on witness statements, video footage and interviews with victims, the charges describe Lee’s movements on the afternoon of Nov. 8. The first victim was allegedly stabbed four times in the back at the north end of 10th Avenue South. Lee then allegedly ran up behind the second victim on South Jackson Street, stabbed him in the back and attacked three other men at the corner of 12th Street and Jackson.

One man and Jackson in the 12th row were stabbed in the neck, another was stabbed three times in the back and a third had his nose cut off, according to charging documents.

Charges say a witness who saw the first victim being stabbed followed Lee as he drove east in Jackson. Although the man did not see the second stabbing, he witnessed the attacks at the southwest corner of 12th Street and Jackson and was among bystanders who followed Lee as he ran west toward Jackson before his arrest, according to the charges. He confirmed to officers that Lee was the man he saw stabbing several people, according to the charges.

Police also allegedly found a broken knife handle and a folding knife, both with blood on them, in a parking lot near where Lee was arrested.

The first of five victims interviewed at Harborview told detectives he was north of 10th Avenue South and South Jackson when he saw a man crouching nearby, according to the charges. The man allegedly approached her and, while standing face to face, made a “hugging gesture” and swung downward, striking the victim twice on the back.

The victim, who had four stab wounds in his back, noticed the man had a knife in both hands, according to the charges. One of the wounds punctured the victim’s lung. The victim watched the attacker walk south on 10th Street and toward Jackson Street, where he saw the man stab a second victim, according to charging documents.

The first victim, who was stabbed minutes later, allegedly saw the attacker running towards him and thought he was going to be stabbed again, but instead watched police take the man into custody.

The second victim, interviewed at Harborview, said he was standing over Jackson talking to a friend when he suddenly felt a hard blow to his back, followed by a sharp pain in his stomach and leg as he fell to the ground. the charges say. While his friend was yelling at bystanders, the victim told police he only saw the attacker’s shoe soles and was knocked unconscious by a broken knife lodged in his spinal cord, according to charging documents.

He told detectives he felt numbness in his left leg and could not walk without the assistance of a walker. The charges say doctors are waiting to see if the damage will heal over time or if the man will need more treatment.

The knife removed from the man’s back was handed over to the police as evidence.

Lee is scheduled to appear in court on November 27.