A suspect arrested earlier this week after police say he chased down an Asian couple and screamed he wanted to kill Chinese leader Xi Jingping is being held on $50,000 bail, reports KOMO News.
28-year-old David Altomare waived the right to appear at his bail hearing on Wednesday as prosecutors urged the judge to keep him locked up.
KIRO reports Ballard has also been accused of numerous other anti-Asian hate crimes. In 2017, he allegedly armed himself with a baseball bat while searching for North Koreans at the University of Washington.
Court documents also say he broke into a workout room at an apartment complex in Kirkland, WA -breaking windows and glass doors- presumably to locate and attack ‘North Koreans’”
He also is accused of breaking into the Google building the same day, also in Kirkland, “yelling about killing people and about North Koreans.”
He eventually pleaded guilty to the cases in mental health court and was placed on 24-month mental health supervision.
“There are a lot of things going on right now,” a woman who would only identify herself as Altomare’s sister, said to KOMO News.”What we have to say is sometimes we suffer from mental breakdowns, I’ve had numerous ones myself.”
According to the Seattle Times, Altomare matches the description of a suspect to a number of similar hate crimes over the past few weeks against Asians. However, Seattle Police would not say he is connected to those crimes which AsAmNews reported on Tuesday.
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our new Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story.
