Man charged for running naked near Ballard Locks

SEATTLE — A man previously convicted of indecent exposure has been charged after police said he ran naked near the Ballard Locks.

Court documents show that’s not his only questionable incident near there this year.

The latest incident happened the afternoon of Nov. 6, when a couple was walking to the park near the Locks with their 13-month-old daughter. When they got to the entrance, the young mother spotted Robert Paul Watson, police said.

Watson was “walking in the woods along the fence line at the entrance to the park,” a Seattle police detective wrote in a probable cause document. “She saw that he was totally nude.”

The husband called 911 and waited for officers to arrive. The couple did not think Watson knew they had seen him. Watson did not acknowledge them.

Watson has been in King County Jail since his Nov. 6 arrest. Watson is expected to have an arraignment, where he’ll enter a plea for indecent exposure later this month.

Prosecutors said Watson, 43, is a danger to the community and has convictions for assault, theft and criminal trespass in addition to the 1995 indecent exposure conviction.

Court records show he also has an ongoing case for harassment and fourth-degree assault for a June 6 incident. In that case, police were called to Commodore Park, 3300 W. Commodore Way in Magnolia, where a tour bus driver had let his passengers off.

The passengers were visiting the Ballard Locks near Commodore Park, and the driver went to urinate in the woods. Police said Watson confronted him saying, “You can’t do that here.” The driver said he called 911 after Watson followed him back to the bus.

Police say Watson then pulled a folding knife out of his pants pocket, opened it, and told the bus driver to, “call them off or someone is going to die,” according to charging documents.

Another man told police he witnessed the conflict and told Watson to calm down. But investigators say Watson didn’t, and pushed the man in the face.

That man has a concealed pistol license, and Watson walked back into the woods after the man drew his weapon, court documents show.

Watson has pleaded not guilty to the harassment and assault charges.

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