A 41-year-old Seattle man is facing two assault charges and two weapons counts after police say he chased down two men with a knife in Hing Hay Park, sending them fleeing before officers tracked him down inside the park itself. Phuc Nguyen appeared in Seattle Municipal Court, where a judge set his bail at $2,000.
The confrontation began when two security workers reported a man carrying a knife, threatening people and arguing with a group near the park, according to KING 5. The workers called 911 from Hing Hay Park at 423 Maynard Ave. S., reporting that the man had moved toward two men while holding the knife. Police say the two men, who described themselves as friends who had been out walking, moved out of the way as Nguyen came within a few feet of them.
Two Men Say They Feared They'd Be Hurt
The two men told police they believed they would have been hurt if they hadn't moved out of Nguyen's path, and that they feared he intended to hurt them. Nguyen denied that the confrontation happened at all, according to the police report. Officers ultimately located and detained him inside Hing Hay Park.
Concealed Box Cutter, Four-Inch Fixed Blade Recovered
Nguyen also tried to conceal the knife, according to the police account. When officers searched him after his arrest, they say he was carrying a retractable box cutter, which was logged into evidence as property, along with a fixed-blade knife with a black handle and a blade about four inches long that police packaged separately as evidence.
Nguyen was booked into King County Jail and charged with one count of unlawful use of weapons for knowingly carrying a dangerous knife, one count of unlawful use of weapons to intimidate another person, and two counts of assault. The City of Seattle had requested $5,000 bail — more than the amount the judge ultimately imposed — and the judge also imposed verbal conditions of release.
Judge Orders Competency Evaluation, Pausing the Case
The court has also arranged for a competency evaluation, a step that under Washington's competency statute, RCW 10.77, automatically pauses criminal proceedings while state mental health evaluators determine whether a defendant can understand the case against him and assist his own attorney.
Hing Hay Park's Recent History With Edged Weapons
This isn't the first knife confrontation at Hing Hay Park. In May, an 18-year-old was arrested at the same park after threatening a woman with a folding knife and an improvised weapon before bystanders tackled him, as Hoodline reported in Bystanders Tackled a Knife-Wielding Teen. In January 2025, police arrested a man inside the park who was wanted for stabbing another man in the lip with a sword hidden inside a cane during a nearby dispute, according to KING 5.
A Cultural Anchor With Ongoing Safety Investments
Hing Hay Park, built in 1973 and expanded in 2018 to just under two-thirds of an acre, is anchored by an ornate Grand Pavilion built in Taipei, Taiwan, and functions as a central gathering spot for the Chinatown-International District, according to Seattle Parks and Recreation. The city has poured resources into the area in recent years, including a $1 million Chinatown-International District safety initiative launched in 2025 that funds a dedicated CID Safety Ambassador program for daily patrols, as reported by MyNorthwest.
Seattle's Office of Economic Development also installed canopy and café lighting throughout the park in late 2024 to improve visibility, according to Seattle's Office of Economic Development. The Seattle Police Department now monitors the district with network-connected CCTV cameras through its Real-Time Crime Center, a program that has aided more than 500 violent crime investigations citywide since its 2025 launch, according to the Seattle City Council.
Citywide Violent Crime Down, But Hot Spots Persist
The incident comes even as Seattle's overall violent crime numbers have improved. Citywide violent crime fell by more than 20% and homicides dropped 36% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, though localized public safety problems have persisted in commercial corridors like the CID, according to KIRO 7.
Seattle's Strict Definition of a Dangerous Knife
The weapons charge against Nguyen stems from Seattle Municipal Code 12A.14.010 and 12A.14.080, which classify any fixed-blade knife, regardless of length, as well as any folding knife with a blade longer than 3.5 inches, as a dangerous knife illegal to carry in public, according to the American Knife and Tool Institute. The Washington Supreme Court upheld that ban as constitutional in City of Seattle v. Montana, ruling that prohibiting fixed-blade knives in public spaces does not violate the state constitution's right to bear arms, per Justia Law.
