UPDATED: Police say drunk, off-duty firefighters arrested for assaulting homeless man sleeping at Seattle Fallen Firefighters Memorial
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Police say an off-duty Seattle firefighter was stabbed on Saturday evening in Pioneer Square after the firefighter and two others attacked a homeless man.
According to police, two off-duty Seattle firefighters and a woman were walking through Pioneer Square after the Sounders game when they came across a homeless man sleeping near the Seattle Fallen Firefighters Memorial near the intersection of Occidental Avenue and Main Street. The memorial in Pioneer Square is a tribute to the Seattle firefighters who have died in the line of duty.
Police say the woman became angry about what she saw, yelled at the man for sleeping on the memorial, and started kicking the homeless man.
One firefighter hit the victim with a stick, police said, and as things escalated, the off-duty firefighters both began kicking the homeless man.
Police said the homeless man tried to defend himself during the attack and stabbed one of the firefighters.
Officers later arrested the two off-duty firefighters and woman for investigation of assault. One of the firefighters was taken to Harborview Medical Center to be treated for a stab wound.
Officers believe the suspects were intoxicated.
The homeless man refused medical help.
The firefighter was listed in stable condition Saturday night. He has been a firefighter since 1999 and hasn’t worked a shift since March 13, according to Seattle Fire Public Information Officer Sue Stangl.
The other firefighter was hired in 1997 and hasn’t worked a shift since Jan. 9.
Both of them are on disability, Stangl said.
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Two Seattle firefighters under investigation in the alleged beating of a homeless man in Pioneer Square on Saturday evening have been identified as Scott Bullene and Robert Howell.
Bullene, 45, was hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center after he was stabbed during the beating incident. His injury is not life-threatening, said Fire Department Lt. Sue Stangl.
Bullene works at Station 5 on the Seattle waterfront and joined the department in 1999, Stangl said. His last shift was on March 13.
