EDMONDS – Police have arrested an Edmonds teenager in connection with a road-rage attack that left Richard Alseth struggling to survive.
A tip led police to the 17-year-old boy just hours after the family of the Edmonds man pleaded for help in finding the person who beat the former assistant principal unconscious Monday night.
Police arrested the boy on suspicion of first-degree assault about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday at his home in Edmonds.
The teenager, a senior at Edmonds-Woodway High School, allegedly attacked Alseth, 64, after the two nearly got into a traffic accident, police said.
Alseth was backing out of his sister-in-law’s driveway in the 9500 block of 224th Street SW in Edmonds about 6:15 p.m. Monday when he inadvertently pulled in front of the Jeep Cherokee the boy was driving, police said.
The boy braked hard to avoid a crash, then got out and began screaming at Alseth, according to an affidavit filed in Snohomish County Juvenile Court.
When Alseth got out of his car, the teenager pummeled him, a witness told police.
Alseth put up his hands to shield himself, but the boy grabbed Alseth’s arms and pulled them down to his stomach, then hit Alseth again, court documents say
The attack ended after the boy grabbed Alseth’s neck and kneed him in the face, the court documents say. One of the passengers in the Jeep then got out and yelled at the teenager to leave, police said.
The Jeep drive off, leaving Alseth lying in the street with life-threatening head injuries, police said. The blows caused swelling on both sides of his brain, and he was in serious condition Wednesday night in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
He was breathing on his own, but “there’s still some uncertainties” about his recovery, a relative said.
Alseth’s son Steve Alseth said Tuesday the family expected him to suffer long-term effects from the assault.
A witness provided a rough description of the assailant and the car, but police had few leads until they received a tip from a woman who called at 4 p.m. Tuesday, two hours after Alseth’s family urged anyone with information about the attack to come forward.
“Had we not received some information, the chances of finding the suspect were probably very slim,” Edmonds Sgt. Jeff Jones said.
The woman’s tip led police to the alleged driver and two passengers in the Jeep. A search of the boy’s home turned up a blood-spattered sweat shirt, and investigators noted that the boy’s knuckles appeared to be scraped, court documents say.
The teenager was booked into the Denney Juvenile Justice Center, where he is being held on $150,000 bail. He may be charged as an adult if prosecutors decide to file first-degree assault charges, said Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Dave Kurtz, head of the county’s juvenile court division.
The teenager apparently did not know Alseth, who had worked in the Edmonds School District for 30 years, police said.
Alseth retired in June 1999 as assistant principal at College Place Middle School, three months before the teenager started seventh grade there, Edmonds School District spokeswoman Debbie Jakala said.
Even though he was retired, Alseth continued to volunteer at the Edmonds High School stadium, working the concession stand and assisting at events.
Counselors were available Wednesday at College Place and other schools in the district, Jakala said.
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