Moment disabled man, 66, is beaten to death with in Seattle by serial criminal that a judge freed

A disabled man was beaten to death by a career criminal with a metal pole on the streets of downtown Seattle in broad daylight and in front of several witnesses, including a police officer with the city’s force.

Aaron Fulk, 48, was caught on surveillance footage as he bludgeoned 66-year-old Rodney Peterman with the makeshift weapon.

Prosecutors say that he kept on beating Peterman even after the victim fell unconscious during the attack on August 2. It fractured Peterson’s skull after he 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, 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 who had come across the man days earlier, and decided to release him without bail.   

Fulk had been arrested eight days prior in nearby Tacoma, Washington 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 appear to have gone unheeded with Fulk allegedly carrying out his attack on Peterman at Third and Pike in downtown Seattle, an area that is notorious for violence and drugs. 

Seattle Police later deployed a mobile precinct nearby to deter criminals. 

Judge 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 was have 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 him to be a clear danger to the public. He has since 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 ‘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.

‘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.’ 

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 says 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. 

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.

 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.