Worker uses chair to defend coworkers from man yelling racial slurs, Washington cops say

An employee with the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department and his coworkers were attacked by a man yelling racial slurs at him while he worked at a park, documents from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office say.

Officers responded to a call about a man trying to fight the victim at Occidental Park on Dec. 3, according to documents. The dispatcher could hear racial slurs being yelled in the background, documents say.

King County Metro bike officers arrived and the victim told them he and two coworkers were working when they saw the suspect, identified as Joseph Track, 56, of Seattle, standing in an alley screaming, according to the documents. The victim’s coworkers reported Track had followed them from a 7-Eleven, the documents say.

Track focused on the victim and started to approach the three workers, shouting racial slurs, according to the documents. Track spit on the victim “twice, covering his coat with red-tinged saliva,” documents say.

Track tried to punch the victim, according to documents. The victim “hit Track to stop him from assaulting him,” documents say.

The victim grabbed a chair and held it between himself and Track, but Track continued to chase him and his coworkers, according to documents. The victim’s coworkers tried to get between him and Track, but the victim told them to get behind him “so they would be safe,” documents say.

Once officers arrived, they separated Track from the victim and his coworkers, according to documents. The victim told officers he had never seen Track before and “he could see there was ‘something wrong with him,’” documents say.

Track had one partially-consumed bottle of alcohol and another full bottle when police detained him, according to documents. Track “appeared confused and tired” and “indicated he had lost his glasses,” documents say.

Track is charged with malicious harassment and custodial assault, according to the King County Jail’s inmate listing. He is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 21, a spokesman with the prosecuting attorney’s office said in an email.

Deputy attorneys with the prosecutor’s office told reporters during a news briefing last week that there has been an increase in hate crimes referred to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the agency’s spokesman said.

“David [Bannick] and I anecdotally [feel] like there are more hate crime cases being referred to our office and the numbers do reflect that,” Leandra Craft told reporters.

Bannick and Craft said they feel the increase is due to both an increase in reporting and an increase in hate crimes themselves.

“I do think that in 2020 ... we’re seeing different types of hate crimes related to COVID,” Craft said. “One really big pattern that we’re seeing is that a lot of the offenders of hate crimes are people who have mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and typically the people who have mental health issues and substance are not getting help because of COVID.”

The most recent data from 2019 show “that by far the most common victims for crimes in Seattle are African-Americans and gay men,” Bannick said.

“Those two groups together make over half of the victims for hate crimes in Seattle,” he told reporters. “There’s very, very low numbers for reported hate crimes for people who are transgender, people who are immigrants, who are from other racial groups. I don’t think that’s because those people are not targeted for hate crimes and never face racial harassment. I think that’s because those types of hate crimes are less likely to be reported.”