A felony assault suspect was released from custody Thursday after being arrested in connection to an assault in Des Moines on Tuesday, the Des Moines Police Department announced.
According to police, officers were called to a fight in progress near 11th Avenue South and South 222nd Street in Des Moines just after 3 p.m. Tuesday. Officers were told by the 911 caller that the 62-year-old victim was working for the King County Water District and was “possibly unconscious” on the ground.
The 911 caller was a co-worker of the victim, police said. The co-worker began recording the assault on his phone.
When officers arrived, they found the victim conscious, with his eyes and face swollen and shirt bloodied. Officers also saw a man matching the suspect’s description walking away from the victim.
After a confrontation and struggle with officers, the suspect was taken into custody.
The victim and his co-worker told police that they were working for the water district when the suspect approached the victim and said, “I’m having a bad day,” before punching him in the face.
According to police, the suspect continued to assault the victim on the ground before getting up to challenge the co-worker who was recording the incident. The suspect then returned to the victim, who had managed to stand up again, and punched him and wrestled him to the ground.
Once he was on the ground, the victim was kicked in the face by the suspect, police said.
The suspect was booked into the King County Jail on a 72-hour hold for investigation of second-degree assault.
On Thursday, Des Moines police learned that the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office released the suspect before his first court hearing and before the office could gather all the facts from detectives about the victim’s injuries.
According to the police, the probable cause certification that was filed by the case detective on Wednesday states that the victim suffered multiple facial fractures. However, the prosecuting attorney’s office did not receive that information until after the decision was made to release the suspect.
Police also said that the prosecuting attorney’s office was sent a link to the video taken by the victim’s co-worker, but that also wasn’t until after the decision was made to release the suspect.
“This is about community safety. Law enforcement’s job is to keep our community safe, yet this incident is another example this week of the criminal justice system in King County failing us,” said Ken Thomas, chief of the Des Moines Police Department, on Thursday. “We are trying to effect positive change in the system. The Des Moines Police Department is part of that system, and we are not perfect, but we will be part of the positive change. I spoke with the King County Prosecutor’s Office and they assured me prosecutors would rush file charges against the suspect as first priority tomorrow morning.”