Metro bus driver attacked, suspect ordered held

SEATTLE — This is a 2007 photograph from the state Department of Corrections of the alleged assailant, 35-year-old William Lewis Marion.

According to Seattle police, Marion was arguing with another man, outside a South Seattle bus stop last night as Metro driver, Gary Fuller, stopped and got off the bus.

"The operator was on his way back to the coach," said Seattle police Detective Mark Jamieson, "And stopped to interact with the two men that were arguing at the bus stop."

Fuller was on what Metro officials call a "comfort break" on South Henderson at Rainier Avenue South, driving the No. 7 route, one of the most dangerous routes in all of King County Metro.

Detective Jamieson says after Fuller approached the two men at the bus stop: "That's when the assault occurred."

Marion declined to appear at his bail hearing at the King County Jail.

"Your honor, the state is seeking probable cause for assault in the first degree, deadly weapon," said King County deputy prosecutor Ali Zadeh.

Marion, she said, has been issued at least 15 arrest warrants since 1999.

"There was an unprovoked violent assault on two separate individuals," Zadeh told King County District Court Judge Mark Chow. "One of the victims in this case was not only stabbed four times, but also bit on the face. The facts of this case are incredibly concerning to the state."

For that reason, she asked for -- and Judge Chow agreed -- that Marion be held on $500,000 bail.

As for Gary Fuller, he is 54 years old; has been a Metro bus driver since 2007.

And though he was stabbed in the stomach, the people at Harborview say his condition is stable.

Cox Media Group