Distressing footage showed a disabled 66 year-old being beaten to death with a metal pole in Seattle – allegedly by a serial criminal cops say had been freed by a local judge on a separate felony charge just eight days earlier.
Aaron Fulk, 48, is said to be the man caught on surveillance footage as he bludgeoned 66-year-old Rodney Peterman with the makeshift weapon in the Washington city’s notoriously crime-ridden downtown.
It happened close to Seattle’s world-famous Pike Place food market, a popular tourist-hot spot, KOMO reported.
Prosecutors say Fulk kept on beating Peterman even after the victim fell unconscious during the August 2 attack. It fractured the skull of Peterman – who had mobility issues and used a walker – who was struck at least three times in the back of the head and on the temple.
Although bystanders performed CPR on Peterman, he never regained consciousness and died in hospital four days later.
Fulk was arrested as he attempted to walk away from the scene of the crime. It’s unclear if he knew his victim before the attack, and what his motive was.
But he might not have been out on the streets at all were it not for the actions of Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Thornton.
Thornton had come across Pierce days earlier, and decided to release him without bail on felony harassment charges after he allegedly threatened to kill a local city worker.
Thornton released Fulk on his own recognizance, and asked him not to commit any more crime.
The serial criminal’s subsequent behavior has sparked fury over Thornton’s decision to ignore prosecutors’ request for $10,000 bail, and is being viewed as symbolic of Seattle’s apparent unwillingness to crack down on serious crime.
Aaron Fulk, 48, was caught on camera brutally attacking 66-year-old Rodney Peterman, striking him in the back of the head multiple times with a metal pole
Surveillance footage and cell phone video clearly caught the moment Fulk carried out the brutal beating
It’s alleged Fulk was able to strike Peterman over the head at least three times before he fell unconscious
Aaron Fulk, 48, is accused of beating an elderly man to death with this metal pole along a busy Seattle street on August 2. This is the pole used in the attack
Fulk had been arrested eight days prior in nearby Tacoma, Wash., after threatening a security guard working at a Pierce Transit stop.
Pierce County prosecutors wanted Fulk held on $10,000 bail but court records show Judge Thornton released him and ordered him ‘not to commit any more crimes.’
The advice appears to have gone unheeded, with Fulk allegedly carrying out his attack on Peterman at Third and Pike in downtown Seattle, an area notorious for violence and drugs.
Seattle police later deployed a mobile precinct nearby to deter criminals.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Thornton came across Aaron Fulk days earlier and decided to release him without bail
Thornton is one of a number of judges across the country who have been applying lax bail rules to many of their cases which allow repeat criminals to return to the streets without bond where they go on to reoffend, sometimes within hours of their release.
Had the judge looked into Fulk’s criminal past he would’ve uncovered a litany of cases including assault, aggravated battery, attempted assault and disorderly conduct in neighboring Idaho.
Fulk is currently being held at the King County Jail on $2.5 million bond after King County prosecutors successfully argued he was a clear danger to the public. He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder.
According to court documents, Fulk told an officer: ‘If I have to go to jail for it, I will,’ and ‘I’m gonna kill him a million times over.’
The officer then ‘asked him: ‘Was it your intention to kill him?’ to which Fulk replied ‘ah, yeah, forever.’
‘The defendant admitted to officers that he was trying to kill the victim, and while acknowledging the victim was the first that he attacked in this manner, [he] made it clear this victim would not be his last,’ Senior Deputy Prosecutor Gretchen Holmgren wrote in the charging document, as seen by the Seattle Times.
Seattle Police Department Chief Adrian Diaz shared his concerns about the decisions judges were making when it comes to violent criminals such as Fulk
Peterman’s beating only came to an end after a Good Samaritan, Loren Page, intervened
Seattle Police Department Chief Adrian Diaz shared his concerns about the decisions judges were making when it comes to violent criminals such as Fulk.
‘We can’t just let people out if they’re harming our community. If they’re victimizing other people. we’ve got to have measures in place, we’ve got to have accountability. That’s a huge concern. They’re a harm to our community,’ Diaz said.
Peterman’s beating only came to an end after a Good Samaritan intervened.
‘No one deserves to be brutally beat like that,’ Loren Page who intervened in the attack said to KOMO. ‘I apologize for not being there, one more club strike earlier. It’s unacceptable. It should not happen in any city. We should do something about it.’
‘People should feel safe when they go downtown and we want people to see exactly what the King County Prosecutor’s office is doing,’ Casey McNerthney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said. ‘When we see violent crime, when we see repeat property crime, we’re filing these cases immediately.’
A sign is seen on a protester’s skateboard during a Defund the Police march in August 2020
Seattle protesters are seen calling for the police to be defunded are pictured marching in August 2020. The following month the city council adopted their call, and police numbers have been falling ever since
The city of Seattle has been facing an uphill battle when it comes to tackling crime.
In July, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said it filed 598 felony cases, adding up to about 30 charges filed every business day.
The majority of the charges are connected to violent or gun crimes with 21% related to domestic violence. Felony charges relating to firearms and repeat offenders were also filed each business day throughout the month.
In the city of 724,000, 16 percent of its police officers are on leave, while others have left permanently.
Between January 2020 and December 2021 at least 339 Seattle police officers retired or resigned, The Wall Street Journal reported, noting that the city has an authorized force of 1,347 but only some 1,000 deployable officers.
During summer 2020, woke ex-mayor Jenny Durkan infamously handed over a large section of the city’s once bustling Capitol Hill zone to a group of anti-police anarchists, turning the area into a hot bed of crime, and bringing businesses to their knees.
In September 2020, Carmen Best, the widely respected then-chief of Seattle police, resigned hours after the city council made good on its promise to approve sweeping proposals that would cut about 100 officers and slash the department’s budget.
The 2021 police budget, approved in September 2020, was reduced by nearly $35.6 million, or nine percent, from 2019.
A year later, the budget was cut again.
In November 2021, the city council voted 8-1 for a 2022 city budget that cuts police funding by more than $7 million.
Teresa Mosqueda, chair of the budget committee, claimed the budget includes ‘no cuts’ to ‘officers or officer salaries’ – and the proposal did include funds to hire 125 officers in 2022.
But critics said the strong message of ‘defunding the police’ was a powerful deterrent for anyone considering joining the force, and pushed many to retire early or resign.
Seattle police are pictured on March 10 of this year detaining a man suspected of dealing drugs, as part of the mayor’s push to target ‘visible crimes’
Despite the promises to stop the attacks on the police budget made by the new mayor, Bruce Harrell – who took office on January 1 this year – the results are yet to be felt, and the hollowed-out force is proving unable to cope.
Police have been focusing on the homeless problem in the city with encampments springing up all over the the downtown area during the pandemic and the months that followed.
At least seven patrol officers have been moved over to help empty tent encampments as part of the Alternative Response Team, KUOW reported.
Other Seattle officers are tasked with targeting city crime ‘hot spots’ and clamping down on people purchasing and selling drugs and stolen goods.
‘Those officers, while certainly needed, will be spending much of their time working with homeless people who haven’t asked for help from the City and in many cases won’t accept it,’ the officer wrote in a document obtained by KUOW.
‘Meanwhile vulnerable crime victims who desperately want and need help from SPD are being put on hold.
Bruce Harrell, the mayor of Seattle, is pictured on November 2, winning the election. He took over on January 1
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