91-year-old woman's arm broken in random Ballard attack

A 91-year-old woman was assault and suffered a fractured elbow in a random Ballard attack -- and the man charged in the case is a repeat criminal recently released after another Seattle crime.

The suspect, Adrian Curtis Parks, 23, has a history that includes harassment, theft and multiple assault convictions.

Less than two months before the 91-year-old was attacked, Parks was arrested by Seattle police for trespassing -- and had a 12-inch serrated fixed-blade knife and a warrant when he was stopped.

Four days after that arrest, Parks was back on the streets. The City Attorney's Office recommended a guilty plea with credit for time served -- three days in jail -- the same day they charged Parks in Seattle Municipal Court. Judge Anita Crawford-Willis agreed to the sentencing, which also waived the $43 criminal conviction fee.

In the most recent case involving the 91-year-old, police were called on June 3 to the 5600 block of 22nd Avenue Northwest after a man was yelling at people and hitting things with a shovel. Several people called 911, and a witness said he shoved the woman to the ground nearby.

Police said Parks was outside the library shirtless, sweating profusely and appeared to be on drugs or having a crisis. Library staff said he frantically ran inside and wiped himself down with a magazine. A library patron helped escort him out before police found him outside.

The 91-year-old woman told police she was exiting a store on Market Street when a shirtless man ran into the store screaming and shoved her to the ground. She was taken by ambulance to Swedish Hospital where her left arm was put in a cast.

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“The victim’s injuries were the result not of an inadvertent bump, but by an intentional act of shoving this woman to the ground,” Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Christian P. Brown wrote in charging documents.  Prosecutors also believe Parks could hurt others if released.

A witness identified Parks as the attacker. He was charged with felony assault in King County Superior Court and is expected to enter a plea later this month. Parks remains in King County Jail.

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