The victim is in a medically induced coma with multiple injuries to her face, including fractures to her eye sockets, nose, sinuses and jaw. Evidence of sexual assault also was found, charging papers say.
King County prosecutors on Monday charged a 21-year-old homeless man with first-degree assault with sexual motivation in connection with a brutal attack on a homeless woman in White Center last week.
Prosecutors are still reviewing the case and additional charges against Robert German are possible, said Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. German remains jailed in lieu of $750,000 bail.
According to charging papers, the 55-year-old victim lives on the streets in White Center. The charges also say German recently became homeless and reported he was staying at a friend’s place in Burien.
King County sheriff’s detectives say German told them he finished his shift at a fast-food restaurant at 10 p.m. on Wednesday and drank two beers as he walked north on Ambaum Boulevard, then waited for a bus to Burien, the charges say.
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Detectives say they obtained video-surveillance footage that showed German encounter the woman just before 2 a.m. Thursday near a bus shelter in the 9600 block of 15th Avenue Southwest. She attempted to get away from him by walking through the parking lot of the building that houses the state Department of Social and Health Services, say the charges.
The video shows German grabbing the woman and knocking her to the ground in the parking lot, according to the charges. She tried to run but repeatedly fell to the ground in her struggle to get away from him, charging documents say.
He then grabbed her wrists and dragged her along the ground as she kicked and fought him, pulling her behind a false wall in front of the building, charging paper say.
Evidence at the scene indicates German sexually assaulted her or attempted to, say the charges. There is also evidence to suggest he used his feet to stomp and kick the woman’s head, police say.
The beating lasted 11 minutes and by the end of it, the victim was unrecognizable, with a severe laceration across the entire front of her face, the charges say. Her eyes were swollen shut and her mouth was severely deformed, charging papers say.
A witness heard loud banging sounds, saw German run from the scene, and called 911 after finding the woman unconscious and struggling to breathe, say the charges.
Minutes later, German was found walking in the 10200 block of Southwest Ambaum Boulevard with blood on his jeans and underwear, according to charging documents.
The woman was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where she remains in a medically induced coma as she recovers from multiple injuries to her face, including fractures to her eye sockets, nose, sinuses and jaw. Evidence of a sexual assault also was found, charging papers say.
The woman is expected to survive her injuries, and doctors hope to remove a tube from her airway in the next couple of days, the charges say.
Detectives say German denied seeing or encountering a woman on the night of the attack. He was unable to account for his whereabouts at the time of the assault and couldn’t explain blood and other stains on his clothing and body, according to the charges.