A Seattle mail carrier says he considered climbing a fence into a neighboring apartment complex to escape a man who poured a bag of tortilla chips into his postal van, swung at his head, and chased him around the vehicle while accusing him of stealing a ballot. The confrontation, which unfolded on the 2300 block of East John Street around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, ended with the man arrested and booked into King County Jail, and the Seattle City Attorney's Office has now filed a single count of assault against him in Seattle Municipal Court.
Carrier Says He Dodged Swings While on the Phone With 911
According to court documents cited by KING5, the carrier was on the phone with 911 as the man approached him yelling about his mail-in ballot and filming him. Per the police report, the carrier told officers the man poured a large bag of black tortilla chips into his marked USPS van and tried to hit him with an open hand. The carrier said he dodged the swings and backed away, but the man followed him around the van, and he believes that without his efforts to get away, the man probably would have put his hands on him.
The station's report notes that the ordeal did not end when police first arrived. The carrier told officers the man returned on a Lime bike after officers left, yelled about police being called, and appeared ready to throw soda at him, prompting the carrier to call 911 again. Seattle police ultimately arrested the man and booked him into King County Jail, and the mail carrier was the one who identified him to officers.
A Second Run-In in About a Week
The carrier told police this was his second confrontation with the same man in about a week. During that earlier run-in, the man allegedly tried to block the postal van with a Lime rental bike, but the carrier reported the incident only to his supervisor rather than calling 911 at the time. A postal supervisor later told officers the man frequently contacted Seattle USPS offices about mail service problems, and a police report documented an October 24 call in which he reported a possibly stolen or missing ballot.
A Separate 2023 Mailbox Mishap, Blocks Away
The East John Street location has drawn election-related scrutiny before, though in a wholly separate 2023 episode. Voters who dropped ballots at a mailbox on 15th Avenue East and East John Street grew concerned after their ballots never showed up in the King County ballot tracker, according to The Seattle Times. USPS later found that the outbound box had not been cleared since mid-October, and 85 ballots were eventually delivered for processing. The newspaper reported that the collection box had been marked out of order over a lock issue, but the signage was removed multiple times and voters kept using it anyway.
King County Elections said all 85 of those recovered ballots carried signature dates of Election Day or earlier and would proceed to signature verification. King County Elections Communications Manager Halei Watkins told MyNorthwest that those ballots will be able to be counted. There is nothing in the record tying that 2023 mailbox mix-up to this week's assault case; they involve the same stretch of street but are unrelated incidents.
Voters anywhere in King County who are worried about a lost or damaged ballot have official recourse. King County Elections says residents can request a replacement ballot or download a replacement envelope, and can visit the elections office in Renton or any Vote Center in person.
