Bellevue Police Officers performed life-saving treatment for a resident Friday evening following an overnight assault involving a machete in the City’s downtown neighborhood.
At approximately 8:50 p.m., Officers responded to an incident at the 200 block of 111th Avenue NE. Responding Officers immediately noticed the victim – a 55-year-old male – at the entry of the apartment complex holding a bloody towel to his upper left arm and a large amount of blood in the main lobby. Law enforcement quickly sprang into action and applied a torniquet above the wound and packed the wound with gauze. This slowed the bleeding until Bellevue Fire Department arrived to treat the wounds and transport him to Overlake Hospital. Officers remained with the victim as he was transported to the hospital.
According to both the victim and an eyewitness (a 33-year-old female), the victim and the suspect – a 66-year-old male – knew one another and exchanged a brief interaction before the incident. The suspect then allegedly banged on the victim’s door and accused the victim of stealing his wallet. That’s when the suspect allegedly used a machete to attack the victim – making contact and causing a deep laceration in the victim’s upper left arm.
The victim told Officers he felt his life was in immediate danger and chose to use bear spray directly on the suspect’s face to fend off any additional attacks. Officers learned this is when the suspect walked out of the victim’s apartment and treated his own injuries at the apartment complex’s main bathroom lobby.
According to the victim and eyewitness, the suspect then exited the building and fled the scene in his silver Nissan sedan. The Kirkland Police Department later notified Bellevue Police of a report of a machete found matching the description of the assault weapon. The machete was later collected by Bellevue Officers and booked as evidence.
The investigation of Friday’s incident is still ongoing and additional updates about the case will be forthcoming.
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