KENT, Wash. — Two men accused of harassing a homeless man in Burien and then turning on a good Samaritan who tried to help faced a judge Thursday.
Both men pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault at the Regional Justice Center in Kent, kicking off the next phase of the criminal trial.
KIRO 7 was ordered by a King County District Court judge to not show the faces of suspects Ivan Schoolcraft and Timothy Whitmer.
The attack on 39-year-old good Samaritan Ryan O'Dell, who came to the aid of a homeless man who he says was being harassed, was recorded on a cellphone video.
The incident happened outside the Burger Broiler in Burien at about 7 p.m. on April 18. O’Dell said he stepped in when Schoolcraft and Whitmer started pushing the homeless man and his property into the road.
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That's when the men turned their attention to O'Dell.
Witnesses said the men's weapons of choice against O'Dell were a machete and chain belt. The attack left him in critical condition.
Two weeks ago, O’Dell spoke to KIRO 7 from his hospital bed in Harborview while he was recovering.
“Next thing I know, I'm getting hit with a machete and a chain and they just kept hitting me and hitting me. (They were) intoxicated, belligerent and just looking to cause havoc on the homeless. It’s an outrage,” said O’Dell.
O'Dell said he jumped in to help the homeless man because he himself has been homeless before, and he says he would do it all again.
O’Dell told KIRO 7 he would watch the trial of Schoolcraft and Whitmer continue, as their next court date is in a few weeks.
Cox Media Group
