Homeless man accused in attack with metal pipe at Milton laundromat
A transient accused of hitting a man in the head with a metal pipe while at a Milton laundromat is being held without bail.
Pierce County prosecutors have charged the 32-year-old with second-degree assault. He is scheduled to undergo a mental competency hearing Jan. 17.
The confrontation occurred Dec. 31 at a laundromat in the 900 block of Meridian Avenue East.
Charging papers give this account:
The victim was doing his laundry when he took note of the defendant, who was acting “very odd” and yelling profanities, records say.
When the defendant directed his aggressive behavior toward an elderly woman, the victim told the defendant to leave the lady alone.
“In response, the defendant pulled a metal pipe out of a bag and approached him aggressively,” records say.
The defendant is accused of striking the victim on the side of the head before the victim wrestled the pipe away and hit him a few times.
When the defendant left the laundromat, the victim called 911.
Officers noticed a bleeding head wound on the victim and found an 18-inch metal pipe they believe was once the handle to a car jack.
Shortly afterward, the shirtless defendant showed up at the library and claimed he’d been attacked.
He told police he’d been drinking at the laundromat with a friend when a “guy just started coming at him,” prosecutors wrote in charging documents.
The defendant claimed people had been trying to set him up and rambled about an unrelated methamphetamine lab.
This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 10:56 AM.
